Batgirl of the Future: In Waves
by Watership's Nightwish Rat
Summary: Coba's relationship with Bruce becomes strained after learning about her true heritage and the origins of her powers. Shriek and Spellbinder escape from prison to aid an old enemy of Bruce's in making a supersonic weapon. Coba finds herself caught in the middle of an old war as she struggles to uncover the villains' real plan—and to accept all of the painful truths she faces...
1. Prologue

**Author's Notes:**

**Yay! I'm finally done with this prologue! Oh my gosh, this took a long time to write... Of course, this is my first _BOTF_ story that's not based on a certain episode or ****story line. In other words, it's my first "original" story (OS) in this series that's not a one-shot! So yeah, getting it written will be a challenge, and very time consuming (despite already having a rough plot outline of my own to follow), but at least it'll provide you guys and girls something to read that you haven't really seen before. It will include a few references to the _Batman Beyond_ episodes and graphic novels, but aside from that this is mostly original. It is based on a nightmare I had in late December of 2013, in which I was, in fact, Coba Brooklyn. It wasn't _that_ knowledge that made it a nightmare, though: what made it a nightmare will be revealed later on.**

**To be honest, I'm probably more stoked about writing this story than I have been with other ones. It's going to have a really cool twist about in the middle or towards the end, and it is, as I stated earlier, based on a nightmare I had about a month and a half ago. I'm even considering making a "book cover" especially for it! YAY FOR EXCITEMENT! WOOT WOOT!**

**The idea for this story's title came to me when I got the song "In Waves" by Trivium stuck in my head, primarily the intro where he screams the title of the song. I thought about it some more, and I realized that it fit really well with what this story will be covering. Two villains in this are Shriek and Spellbinder, and the "waves" they represent are sound waves and brain waves respectively. Then there's another form of "wave" that is present in all of the _BOTF_ stories: emotional waves, since, after all, Coba is a very emotional character. There will be a _lot_ of emotion in this story. But no: none of the lyrics from the song are in this.**

**Wow, this is my eighth _BOTF_ story but the sixth non-one-shot one? Wow, I must really have drive for these... more than I do my other stories, even...**

**Chronological order (stories you may need to read to fully understand references in this one are underlined):**

**1. Rebirth**

**2. Running Out of Inque**

**3. Remember**

**4. Eyewitness of the Past**

**5. Last Resort**

**6. The Call**

**7. Truth Be Told**

**8. In Waves**

**So, without further ado, please R & R and enjoy...**

* * *

**Blüdhaven**

"Keep your stance, kid. Mind your surroundings. Focus on your opponent's motions."

Coba Brooklyn strove to do as her grandfather, Richard Grayson, instructed as she blocked his attacks with a bo staff he had given to her from his earlier days as Robin, since it was more appropriate for her size than the one he was using. Though small, the staff was surprisingly sturdy and light, which allowed Coba to use it more efficiently. More than once, her feet slipped on the ground as she dodged some of his attacks but she managed to stay upright. She blocked an attack, then lunged forward to return it. Dick side-stepped and tripped her with his staff. Coba hit the floor hard, the fall knocking the wind out of her lungs. Despite the fact that her entire body was hurting from the blow, she managed to lift herself off of the ground, using her staff to aid her. "Easier said than done," she gasped.

"I know, kid." Dick said sympathetically. "Take a five minute break."

The girl shook her head stubbornly. "No, let's do more."

Dick looked at her concernedly. "Coba, this is the fourth time you've taken a fall like that in under five minutes. You're obviously worn out and pained from it."

"But I can do more!" Coba protested, a determined glow in her cobalt and red eyes.

"_Stop_ arguing with me!" Grayson snapped suddenly, his only eye narrowed in a stern glare. "We're _not_ continuing until you've had a break!"

Brooklyn was taken by surprise by his harsh response, but lowered her head in defeat. "Yes, sir," she said quietly, sitting down on a bench that was directly behind her. She looked up at him apologetically after a brief moment. "I'm sorry, Grandfather. I didn't mean to upset you."

The man immediately regretted his tone to his granddaughter. "No, I'm sorry," he apologized, sitting down next to her. "I know you're scared about Slade coming after you. To be honest, I am, too. But you need to take the training slow and steady, otherwise you'll have no control of your actions if and when you face him. It's not like homework from school where you only have to use your intellect: your body needs to be as ready as your mind when it comes to learning how to fight."

"I know," Coba murmured. Earlier she had told Dick about what Bruce and Damian had told her the previous night about her heritage and powers. "I just don't know how to accept all of this. I mean, I've had these powers since I was an infant, and there are some that I don't know if I have or not. How can I hope to survive an encounter with Deathstroke, who probably knows more about my powers than I do?"

"Give it time," Grayson said gently. "You'll get the hang of it." He noticed something else in her gaze, something he had noticed many times before on the faces of his former teammates and himself when he looked in the mirror many years ago. "You're worried about impressing Bruce, aren't you?"

Coba nodded grimly. "Yeah. I know I probably shouldn't be, but I noticed something about his behavior towards me after what we learned last night." She looked down sadly. "It's as if he's expecting more from me, and at the same time it seems that he's not too thrilled about me having super powers. Could it be that these truths symbolize the destruction of our relationship? That I have no chance of being like him?"

"Try not to worry about it, Coba," Dick said calmly. "You are not completely like Bruce, nor were you meant to be. That's something you should both learn to be proud of, even if it _does_ cause some stress between you two." _As I am._ He pulled her into a hug. "You know I've got your back, no matter what happens." _Even if I die_, he thought, although he knew she would hear it anyway.

"Yes, I do know," Coba confirmed, returning the hug. Despite sometimes having arguments with her grandfather due to their own stubbornness issues, she always felt safe with him around, and knew she could talk to him whenever she needed advice. "And I've got yours." _Even if I die._

_"Dick, Coba, do you copy?"_ a voice crackled on a radio nearby after a brief moment.

Grayson and Brooklyn released each other before the man stood up and pushed a button on the radio. "We copy, old man," he said gruffly. "What's going on?"

_"There's been report of a prison break in Blüdhaven,"_ came Bruce's grim response. _"There was another one reported in Gotham at about the same time."_

"Did you happen to get an I.D. of who all got away?" Coba inquired.

_"Yes: Shriek from Gotham, Spellbinder from Blüdhaven. There's no evidence of any more escaped convicts."_

_"But what's—"_ another voice began.

"—Spellbinder doing in Blüdhaven?" Coba finished. "He was arrested a couple of months ago, Terry. He had escaped from Arkham and came to Blüdhaven to escape from you. Grandfather and I caught him shortly after."

_"Oh." _Terry paused for a split-second. _"Want me to come over there and help get Spellbinder?"_

Nightwing narrowed his one eye. Coba could clearly tell that he was a bit peeved about the situation and the new Batman's offer. After all, Grayson had left Gotham to get out of Batman's shadow over forty years ago. It was evident to the small teen that he did not care who was wearing the mantle of the Dark Knight: there was no way Richard Grayson was going to accept being in Batman's shadow again if he could take care of a situation without him. That did not, however, mean that he would refuse the help of anyone who worked with Batman, which was proven by him allowing Coba to help as Batgirl whenever she visited and there was a problem in the city. "Coba and I will take care of Spellbinder," he said flatly. "You worry about Shriek."

Terry paused uncomfortably. _"Well, uh—"_

_"Shriek got away about half an hour ago," _Bruce stated, cutting off his apprentice.

"_What?!_" Dick roared in shock and rage, causing Coba and Terry to flinch in surprise. "Why didn't you notify us?!"

_"For one thing, you were training Coba," _Wayne answered gravely. _"For another, Ditto and Batwoman went after him as well, but—"_

Bruce's sudden sad pause caused Coba to jolt in alarm. _This is _not_ good_, she noted. "What happened?" she asked concernedly. "Are they alright?"

_"They're both still alive, but Herbst is just barely,"_ came Terry's heart-wrenching reply. _"Shriek used sound waves to blow Herbst into separate pieces and weaken him greatly. Dana managed to shove a serum into Herbst before he could have died while I chased Shreeve, but he got away. We brought Herbst back to the cave, and now we're treating him. Dana's pretty shaken up about it."_

"Will—"

"—_Herbst be alright? It will take a while, but he'll make a full recovery,"_ Bruce replied somberly. _"For the sake of his safety and his best chance of survival, we're keeping him in the cave."_

Coba nodded and gave a small grunt in understanding. She remembered bitterly why Bruce had started keeping and caring for all of the members, even Dana and Coba, in the cave whenever they got injured. Blight, Derek Powers' alter ego, had somehow found out about Dana being hospitalized after breaking her arm while on duty as Batwoman, and walked in to kill her after correctly deducing who she was. If Terry, Bruce and an even more crippled Coba—with her already crippled right foot and her recently broken left foot—had not already been there to stop him, there was no doubt that Dana would not have survived. The event had shaken all of them so badly that Bruce decided to care for each of them when they needed it—even if it meant being somewhat invasive.

"_I gathered evidence from Arkham concerning Shreeve's escape," _Terry stated, changing the subject. _"Would you like help looking for Spellbinder?"_ he asked again.

"No," came Dick's blunt response. "We can handle it. It's not our first time taking him on."

_"Yeah, but he's got a strong grudge against Coba,"_ Terry pointed out.

_"She'll be fine,"_ Bruce reassured him. _"Spellbinder isn't that strong of a fighter, and Coba's smart enough to figure out his motives and block his mind tricks."_

_"If you say so,"_ McGinnis stated somewhat hesitantly. _"Take care."_

"You too, bro," Brooklyn said, not realizing how distant her voice was until after she spoke. _Does Bruce doubt my abilities as a fighter? _And_ as a thinker? The abilities of Grandfather as well, maybe?_

Bruce and Terry shut off their end of the radio receiver. Dick turned to Coba. "Aren't you going to suit up?" he inquired a bit sternly.

Coba looked at him and grinned roguishly, feeling a little better after getting her mind off of the upsetting news and Bruce's strange statement. "Aren't _you_?" she teased.

Dick narrowed his eye again with mock annoyance, but suppressed a chuckle. _Yep, she's my granddaughter all right_, he thought with amusement. As he turned and entered a dressing room, he realized with a frown how distant the girl had seemed before mocking him. _What's going through her head right now? Whatever it is, I just hope she can push it aside and focus well enough to take on Spellbinder—_and_ whoever may try to intervene._


	2. Chapter 1: Unintentional Confrontations

**Author's Notes: **

**Here's the first official chapter for the story! I know I usually post a story's first chap at about the same time as the prologue, but I didn't have this written at the time I posted the prologue, and I was too anxious to get the prologue up to wait until I was done with this. At the same time, I waited to post this chapter for a special reason made up of a couple of sub-reasons: Valentine's Day is tomorrow. On one hand, I waited because I wanted to give you guys a little something of a present. On the other, I waited because it also marks the sixth anniversary of my first pet rat (Timothy Rat)'s passing. I dedicate my work on this fic to his memory, as well as those of my previous rats and my other pets. **

**This chapter is pretty action-packed and contains more detail than I usually include in my fanfics. In fact, this will definitely be the most action-packed chap in this story for a while, though I honestly have no idea how much action each future chapter will contain.**

**Please R&R and enjoy...**

* * *

A skinny, costumed figure dashed through the streets of Blüdhaven, looking over his shoulder with practically every other step he took. He carried a sturdy satchel—which contained a strange round object—with its long strap over his shoulder, holding it up. His pace was not affected by the heavied bag bouncing against his thigh. The only thing he cared about was getting out of Blüdhaven before—

"Freeze!"

_Slag it._ The man skidded to a halt just as he took notice of several police officers in front of the alley to his right. Each officer was pointing a pistol at him. "Get your hands up!" the commissioner shouted.

The costumed man grinned evilly beneath his mask. "As you wish," he said slyly, reaching into his satchel. He knew at least one of the officers would tense their fingers on the trigger, but that even if they fired their guns the bullets would never hit him. He pulled out the sphere and held it up in one hand, holding his other hand over his head as well.

Without warning, a brilliant white light flashed from the sphere, causing everyone except its owner to cover their eyes in surprise and pain. It was not until a few moments later that the police opened their eyes once more. To their shock and dismay, the man was no longer in the area.

_The fools don't remember who they're dealing with!_ the man thought as he ran through the streets once more, made invisible by the effects of his ball. The bridge that led out of Blüdhaven stretched about a hundred yards away from where he was then. _This is going to be easier than I thought._

A small, dark figure slammed into him right then, disabling the ball's camouflage effect without breaking it. "I think not, Spellbinder," the newcomer growled, standing up and giving the fugitive a dangerous Batglare.

Spellbinder stood up once more as well, towering over the fierce newcomer but not intimidating them. He was inwardly nervous about this particular runt, but hid it. He could not, however, hide his surprise. "Batgirl?! I thought _Gotham_ was your city!"

"It's yours too, isn't it?" Batgirl retorted. "Not that it really matters right now anyway. You're going back to prison, even if we have to drag you there."

"Who's 'we?'"

Just then, a figure much bigger than Coba landed next to them. "Us we," the figure stated gruffly. "Give it up."

Billings seemed amused by this. "Not my style, Nightwing," he said slyly, picking up his sphere from the ground. "Let me show you what my style really is."

Coba's eyes went wide. "Look out!" she urgently shouted to her grandfather, jumping between him and Spellbinder.

Nightwing turned his face and covered his eyes with his left arm just in time before the sphere flashed. He opened his eyes the moment the light faded. To his dismay, he saw Coba lying still on the concrete of the sidewalk. "Batgirl!" he cried out in concern.

"She won't be waking up any time soon," Spellbinder said wickedly, obviously smiling with satisfaction beneath his black and orange-red swirled mask. "And neither will you." He charged at Grayson, prepared to throw a punch at him.

Dick quickly blocked the attack, then returned it, striking the villain in the face. Spellbinder stumbled back before throwing a forceful punch at him once more, this time catching him in the stomach. Being accustomed to these attacks, Dick did not double over in agony. He instead spin-kicked Spellbinder in the stomach. Spellbinder stumbled backward once more, and realized that he could not beat the tough vigilante by direct violence. He quickly bent down and grabbed Coba's limp form from the ground, then tightly held her up against his chest. "If you don't want to see me kill the runt, then I suggest you don't follow."

Before the inwardly horrified Grayson could respond, Brooklyn opened her eyes and shoved her right elbow into her captor's stomach, causing him to release her with a pained grunt. Once her feet touched the ground, she spun around to face him. Ira stared at her in disbelief. "What? With that much stimulant you'd be asleep for weeks!"

Batgirl smirked, although she was glaring at him as she did. "Did you honestly think that I wouldn't learn from any of our previous encounters?" she inquired mockingly. _And did he_ really_ think that I wasn't an inventor_ _myself?_ she wondered humorously, thinking of the small mask she had on beneath her Batgirl mask that blocked any attacks from Spellbinder's ball. Aside from that, the smaller mask—which was just big enough to cover her lightning bolt-shaped scar that was across her right eye—provided back up for in case her main mask was removed in an enemy's presence, further protecting her identity._ Or that I was asleep the entire time he fought Grandfather? I wasn't asleep at all!_

With an angered growl, Spellbinder kicked his right foot at Coba's small stomach. Coba caught his foot and swiftly flipped him hard to the ground. Spellbinder swiped his legs at her in attempt to trip her, but the small warrior simply jumped up and out of the way. He could do nothing to stop her as she prepared to tackle him.

Luckily for him, though not so lucky for Coba, someone was there who _could_ stop her.

Coba hesitated at the sound of a pained grunt coming from Grayson. She and Spellbinder turned in surprise to see a large, muscular man wearing armor and wielding several weapons standing over the vigilante, who had been thrown to the ground and grazed in the arm by the newcomer's sword. Blood trickled quickly from Dick's injury to the ground, despite his strong attempts to staunch it with his other hand. His attacker stepped down on his chest to hold him in place, then pointed the sword tip at his throat.

Completely forgetting about Spellbinder, Brooklyn slammed herself into the intruder, knocking him away from her relative. Using this distraction to his advantage, Spellbinder stood up and began running towards the bridge once more. Coba risked a glance back to see his fleeing form. Just as she prepared to catch him by throwing bolas, the intruder shoved himself into her, causing her to shoot the bolas at a pole instead of Spellbinder and fall to the ground with a pained gasp. The girl struggled defiantly and looked up at her attacker's face, only to freeze in surprise. The man was wearing a black and orange mask with only one eye-hole!

"Deathstroke," Coba breathed out.

"Clever girl," Deathstroke said in a sinister tone. "It appears that you have done your homework."

Without warning, Coba wrapped her right leg around Slade's left one, then managed to flip so she was on top of him. She immediately jumped off of him before he could grab her, and stood readily for an attack. Slade stood up as well, and then pulled out a metal bo staff. He swung one of its ends at her in the blink of an eye. Coba instinctively ducked backward, steadily yet quickly moving her feet to dodge Slade's quick attacks. She quickly somersaulted back before pulling out the bo staff Dick had given her, then extended it. Even though she knew that it was not as strong as Slade's staff, she knew that it could withstand his attacks.

Slade swung his staff down at Coba's head. The young warrior quickly and strongly raised her staff above her head to block the attack, nearly falling backward from the force as staff struck staff. She took a step back to regain her balance before swiping her staff at his legs, somehow managing to trip him. Wilson hit the ground hard, causing him to release his his staff, then turned his head to see Brooklyn leap at him with her weapon above her head, ready to swing it down at him. He quickly rolled to the side, allowing the staff to strike the concrete without breaking, then turned and sprang at Coba before her feet could have touched the ground. Thinking quickly, she released her right hand's grip on her staff, swung the staff behind Deathstroke's back while still keeping a tight hold of it with her left hand, then gripped it again with her right hand before launching off the ground once her feet touched it, spinning herself one-hundred-eighty degrees around him. She kicked off of his back after releasing one of her hands from the staff again, ensuring that she did not break his neck once it got close to it, and landed behind him with outstandingly good form that even made Slade forget that she had stumbled moments before.

"Impressive, little cripple," Slade grunted, slightly out of breath from the girl's stunt, as he grabbed his staff from the ground. "It appears old granddad and older daddy have taught you well."

Batgirl's eyes grew wide with horror. _He knows my relations_, she thought. _But I didn't think he'd know about any of that! Then again, he may have done some research on me to see exactly what and whom he was dealing with._

"Batgirl, move!"

Grayson's urgent warning brought Coba back to reality, causing her to realize that Slade was coming at her again. She raised her staff to block his attack, but her delay cost her greatly. The villain bluntly hit his heavy staff on her head, then swiftly swiped a leg beneath hers. Coba painfully hit the ground with a grunt. She had no time to react before he pinned her down, holding his staff down on her neck, strangling her with it.

Deathstroke grinned malignantly at his prisoner, who was choking for air and struggling vainly beneath his weight. "It appears the fight is over before it even begins," he sneered. "Know that you die with honor, which is more than what can be said by most." He pressed the staff harder against Coba's throat, about to crush her windpipe with it.

Nightwing suddenly slammed himself into Slade, knocking him off of Coba. Both men hit the sidewalk, then rolled apart. "Leave her alone," Dick growled to the villain, preparing to fight him.

Instead of lunging at Dick, Slade stood up straight. "Will do," he said sinisterly. "At least for now." He glowered at Coba, who was successfully hiding her shock and was weakly trying to sit up. _Next time, runt_, he thought darkly, _you won't be so lucky. And neither will your father._ He threw a smoke pellet down, then fled before the smoke thinned, leaving the two heroes unable to track him.

Dick concernedly knelt down beside his granddaughter, helping her sit up. "You okay?"

Coba painfully rubbed her bruised neck, staring at the ground forlornly. "He got away," she murmured. "Both of them. If I hadn't been distracted either time—"

"—they still would have gotten away," Grayson calmly cut her off. "Believe me: I know Slade too well to not expect him to get away if he wanted to." He gestured to his wounded arm. "Mind getting this bleeding stopped for me? I can't really reach it."

"Okay." Brooklyn pulled out a bandage from a pouch on her belt before tightly wrapping it around her grandfather's arm, staunching the still rapid bleeding and almost instantly slowing it. Despite being in control of her arms' movements, her mind was elsewhere. _Slade meant what he said. He'll never rest until I'm dead. When he said "neither will your father," did he mean that he was going to kill Bruce, too? Or_—she barely managed to suppress a shiver—_did he mean that he was going to torture Bruce, starting with having him live with the knowledge of my death?_

Once Coba was finished dressing his arm, Dick aided her in standing up, knowing that she would still have a rough time doing so after nearly being strangled to death. Coba shortened her bo staff before hooking it back onto her utility belt, then gingerly took a step forward. She almost immediately fell towards the ground due to lack of balance. Using his uninjured arm, Dick quickly caught her by the back of her suit. He got her to stand back up, then allowed her to lean against him for support until she could walk on her own once more. They returned to Grayson's loft after a few minutes, then put on their regular clothing before leaving once more with their things, going to one particular destination neither one of them was excited about. Each of them were thinking the same thing, though it was Coba who grimly muttered it aloud:

"Bruce is not going to like this."

* * *

**Yep, Deathstroke's in this story! Forgive me for not exactly getting his character right: I'm still fairly new to this character and am still learning about him. Changes may be made as I learn more about him. And Spellbinder is definitely out of character. He doesn't usually opt for fist fights: he instead goes to mess with his opponents' psyches. When he's unable to, he's usually rather helpless. I thought it would be interesting to have him be more confrontational in this one—especially when it comes to Batgirl, who pretty much humiliated him at the end of "Eyewitness of the Past." What do you think of this characterization of him? Or of Slade, for that matter?**

**Please, and if you want to, leave a review in the box below (I love reading those!). It can be of what you think of the story thus far, any questions you have, and or any theories you have concerning the story. Have a nice day! See you next time!**


	3. Chapter 2: Bitter Meetings

**Author's Notes:**

**Yay! I'm finally done with this chapter! Yeah, I hit a writer's block a couple times, but here it is at last! **

**Please R&R and enjoy...**

* * *

**Gotham**

A little less than half an hour after leaving Blüdhaven, Dick and Coba arrived at Wayne Manor. They entered the large structure, closing the door behind them, before having the grandfather clock slide away from where a cavern leading to the Batcave was and grimly walking down the stone steps. As soon as they entered, a gruff voice greeted them. "Spellbinder got away?"

"Glad to see you too, Bruce," Grayson muttered under his breath.

"Yeah," Coba gravely answered Bruce, immediately surprised that her voice still raspy from nearly being strangled to death. She looked around the cave. "Where are Terry, Dana and Herbst?"

Bruce swiveled around in the computer chair. Coba suppressed a shudder, recalling that the most recent time he had done that nearly caused her to fall off the edge of a cliff in shock, right before learning the truth of how they were related... "Terry took Dana home," Bruce said sagely, bringing the girl out of her thoughts. "She was still in a state of shock, but not to the point she needed to be hospitalized. Herbst is resting on the other side of the cave, in the lab." His tone hardened. "What happened out there?" Bruce demanded to know. "Where's Spellbinder?"

"Deathstroke happened," Dick answered bitterly, his eye narrowed in a fierce glare at the mention of the villain's name. And yet, Coba could sense something else in his voice, something like fear. Without needing to ask, the girl knew why he was feeling this way: Slade had nearly killed both him and Coba, though Dick was more worried about Coba than he was himself, and Coba vice versa. "Spellbinder got away," the man added.

Wayne sat bolt upright in surprise at the news, his eyes betraying his shock and concern. "Are you both all right?"

"Yes, we're fine," Nightwing reassured him. "We might need to check Coba's neck to make sure nothing's damaged, though."

"It's nothing," Brooklyn stated, her voice still rasping. "It's just the bruising: makes it painful to speak around it. I'll be fine, really."

Bruce was noticeably relieved that the two of them were not in bad condition, yet there was still a hint of concern in his eyes for the youngest. "What happened? And be specific," he prompted Grayson.

The original Batman's first sidekick explained everything about how they had chased Spellbinder down, and Slade's unexpected intervention and short tussle with them.

"He thought something strange just before he left, Bruce," Coba said once her grandfather was done speaking. "In his thought he stated I wouldn't be so lucky next time, but then he stated the same about you. Why would he go after you?"

"I'm Batman, remember?" Bruce pointed out.

"You _were_ Batman," Dick corrected.

"I still _am_ Batman," Bruce persisted, a bit irritated.

Before Dick could say anything, Coba jumped to her father's defense. "Physically? No. Mentally? Yes."

Wayne nodded in agreement at Coba's words, some sorrow in his eyes. "Besides, mine and Slade's paths have crossed several times. It's only natural that he'd still hold a grudge against me, even as a weak old man." He was silent for a moment, then he looked back at Coba. "Why don't you go up and get some rest? You've had a rough time tonight."

_Not as rough as usual, though_, Coba thought, wisely choosing not to say it out loud to avoid upsetting Bruce. She could clearly tell that he was trying to get her out of the cave for reasons aside from her encounter with Slade, the man who had been out to kill her since her infancy, but said nothing. Instead, she turned to Bruce and Dick. "Alright. Good night, both of you."

"Good night, kid," Grayson stated, managing a smile as he side-hugged his granddaughter. Bruce, however, remained gravely silent.

Coba returned Dick's hug before turning and walking out of the cave. _What are they going to be talking about?_ she wondered. She shrugged it off. _Well, if it's extremely important, one of them will tell me tomorrow. Or will they? _she thought suddenly, suppressing an uncomfortable shudder. _If they don't trust me, how can I trust them? How can any of us hope to defeat Slade without that trust?_ Coba shook her head as she stepped into the manor. _Don't go jumping to conclusions, kid. They haven't proven any of that yet. But... will they?_

~!~

After over two hours of running, Spellbinder came to a stop in front of an old abandoned warehouse. He cautiously peered through the broken windows, then walked through the doorway, which only had a half-unhinged steel door. The psychologist glanced around at his surroundings apprehensively. "Hello?" he called.

"Hello to you, too."

Spellbinder spun around in surprise to see Shriek standing there. Shreeve channeled his suit, then sent a sound wave at Billings. Spellbinder jumped out of the wave's path just in time, causing it to strike a wall and blow a hole in it. He looked back at his assailant. "Are you insane?!" he yelled.

Shriek smiled behind his sound mask. "You tell me. _You're_ the psychiatrist." He lifted his arm up, ready to fire another wave at Ira.

"You'll bury us both!" Spellbinder protested.

"That's the least of my worries," Shriek retorted.

The villainous psychiatrist now knew that there was no chane of talking sense into the sound genius. With this in mind, he pulled out the sphere from his satchel and held it in front of Shriek. It flashed white after a moment...

...just as Shriek released another sound vibration.

The energy from Spellbinder's sphere collided with the energy of Shriek's sound blast, causing a cyclone to form between the two villains. The cyclone soared upwards towards the roof, instantly breaking through it and leaving a large hole there. Shriek and Spellbinder stood where they were for a moment, unsure of what to make of what had just happened.

"Impressive," a voice said from behind. "That was more than I had hoped to see, though I didn't anticipate that you would possibly attract outside attention."

Shreeve and Billings turned in shock to see a large male figure standing at the edge of the shadows. The man gazed at them through his only eye. Spellbinder was the first to recognize him. "You're the one who—" he started.

"Yes, I am," the man cut him off. "I also took the liberty of getting your equipment back for you."

"You left the note on them to meet you here, as well?" Shriek inquired. He glanced at Spellbinder, then back at the man. "And why didn't you say anything about _him_?"

"Some things are better left unsaid," the man stated matter-of-factually.

"_This_ isn't one of them!" Spellbinder snarled. "There is _no way _that I'm working with _him_!" He pointed meaningfully at Shriek.

"Nor I him," Shriek growled, peeved about being singled-out by the psychiatrist.

The man glowered at them through the only eye hole in his mask. "You don't have much choice."

The two villains were about to attack him when a large computer screen popped up from behind them. _How can there be a computer like that in this dump? _Shriek wondered, not realizing that Spellbinder was thinking the same thing. The screen split into three parts. One part each showed the villains' labs, but the other part showed something that shook the sound expert to his core. There, in a small apartment complex, was a pale-skinned man. _Ollie! _Shreeve almost shouted. Despite being rough on him sometimes, Shreeve secretly admired Ollie, though mostly for his ability to obey without question.

"Let me put this into terms you'll understand," the one-eyed man stated. "If you join me and agree to pool your skills, I guarantee that your equipment—" he glanced at Shriek— "and your partner—" he shifted his gaze back to both villains— "will come to no harm. If you disagree... well, you won't like the consequences for yourselves or your life's work."

_And I thought _I _was insane_, Shriek thought, successfully suppressing a shudder. He did not need to be told to know what the man was planning if he and Spellbinder did not cooperate: to destroy their labs, Ollie, and place them back in prison. Shriek glanced at Spellbinder, then the screens, then Spellbinder again, then at the strange man. "You have my cooperation." _I really did not want to be the first to say that_, he thought ruefully, _but it had to be done. For my work. For my freedom. For Ollie._

Spellbinder looked at the one-eyed man as well. "You have mine as well... _Deathstroke_," he said tonelessly.

"Good," Deathstroke said darkly. "You are welcome to stay here for the night. We shall begin tomorrow." At that, he turned and left the large room, grinning darkly to himself behind his mask. _This time, Bruce, you won't be getting off so easy. The same goes for your little psychic daughter._

After Deathstroke left, Spellbinder and Shriek glared at each other before going to opposite sides of the warehouse and leaning against large crates, not once turning their backs on each other. Once again, both reluctant partners thought the same thing: _What am I getting myself into?_

~!~

As soon as Coba entered her bedroom, she shut the door and sat on her bed. She turned on a small radio that was on a small table next to her bed, then pressed a few buttons. _Bruce'll have my head if he finds out I'm doing this_, she thought, _but something tells me that I need to know what he and Grandfather are talking about._ After a second, she was hearing the rest of their conversation from a mic she had hidden beneath the Batcomputer.

_"...So how's Coba's training going?"_ Bruce inquired.

_"It's going good, but she's trying to rush herself and keeps losing focus," _Dick answered solemnly. _"She doesn't want to stop for breaks, and that's hurting her physically, considering how often she falls."_

_"Then get her to slow down and manage her balance!"_ Bruce growled. _"She'll get killed by Slade if she doesn't learn properly."_

_"I know that," _Grayson said as calmly as he could, though Coba could sense the rising impatience in his voice. _"But she's scared, Bruce. Not just for herself, but for the rest of us... especially you right now."_

_"Why would she be afraid for me when Slade's after _her_?"_

_"He's after you as well, remember?"_

_"I'm surprised he's not after _you_: you were one of his major opponents. I was more of a minor." _Bruce let out a sigh of despair. _"There's something I don't like about this that I'm missing. Coba might feel the same way, but—"_

_"But what?" _Dick said a bit harshly.

Bruce remained silent, then sighed once more. _"I don't want to scare her even more." _He paused again. Brooklyn imagined he was noticing Dick's confused look. _"He might know I was Batman, and he may come for Coba."_

_"Come on, Bruce: that's not his style. If he wanted to do that, he'd have done it a long time ago."_

_"He might not have known about my identity until now."_

_"I think he's known for a long, long time,"_ Dick replied sagely. _"It's against his code of conduct to say it directly."_

_"And I suppose you would know that better than anyone else," _Wayne stated bitterly. _"You were his apprentice, after all."_

Coba's eyes grew wide in shock. "What is he talking about?" she wondered quietly.

_"I thought I told you not to bring that up,"_ Nightwing growled. _"Besides, I've taken more notes of his behaviors since then, when fighting him."_

_"Have you told Coba about it, yet?" _Bruce inquired, a hint of concern in his voice.

Dick was silent for a brief moment. _"No. I'll tell her when I feel she's ready to know."_

_"That may not be soon enough."_

_"Hey, it's not just _my_ secret she'll be dealing with,"_ Dick snapped. _"She's still bothered by what she found out last night about herself, Damian, _and_ you." _Coba could invision her grandfather shaking his head. _"There's more than that, Bruce. She's worried about displeasing you."_

The first Batman was silent for a moment. _"I may never be pleased with anything she does, after knowing what I know about her," _he said sadly.

_"You're upset that she has powers, aren't you?"_ Grayson said angrily. _"I know you have a thing against people having them, especially if they're injected into them, but it wasn't her choice, nor is it her fault." _Dick lowered his voice. _"She's still your daughter."_

Bruce did not respond, but only Batgirl knew what he was thinking, despite being in another room: _I don't know if I can accept her as such, now. But if I told her that, it would break her heart._

Coba shut the radio off downheartedly after a few more minutes, knowing for sure that the conversation was over, and blinked back confused tears. _What hope do any of us have of surviving if we keep trying to keep secrets from each other? _she wondered sadly. _How can the damage be repaired? _She shut off her bedroom light, then lay down and pulled the covers over her shoulders. After a few more uneasy minutes, she drifted into a fitful sleep.

* * *

**Yep, the feels begin to surface even more in this one. We begin to see some tension between Coba and Dick form, and even more tension between our main character and Bruce. Well, I'll be honest: some of that is a bit based on the song "Truth" by Seether (I notice that the song kinda fits with "Return of the Joker" (and I love the song for some reason)). If you haven't heard it, at least read the lyrics: you'll see what I mean.**

**What exactly does Slade have in mind for Shriek and Spellbinder (three villains with names that start with S, XD) to do for him? Why is he targeting Bruce as well? Will Dick ever tell Coba about him being Slade's apprentice? Will Bruce ever come to a decision about his feelings for Coba? These questions and more will be answered as the story continues.**

**There is a character poll from "Last Resort" up on my profile page. You may vote for your favorite character(s (up to three of them)) if you would like. There is also a community I made that contains Batgirl Beyond stories: some are of my BOTF series, but most are not. If you feel like reading stories concerning a future Batgirl, then feel free to browse through what I found. If you would like to be a member of the community, let me know. I'll be more than happy to let you join! :D**

**Have a great rest of your day! :D (Yeah, I use a lot of emoticons as of late.)**


	4. Chapter 3: Dark Intentions

_Coba walked cautiously through an empty, dark hall. She had no idea of how long she had been walking, nor did she know where she was going. A light shined through the cracks of a doorway several feet in front of her. Curiosity overcame Coba's senses, and she slowly pushed it open. Seeing nothing but blinding light, she stepped inside. To her surprise, the door shut behind her, and the room she had entered revealed itself to be a familiar office. _My mother's office_, she realized with a pang of sorrow, _before it was wrecked by Fixx and the Jokerz.

_A gentle voice coughed behind her, though to get her attention and not as a sign of illness. Coba knew the voice too well. She turned slowly, then saw a familiar figure standing there. "_Mom?!_" she gasped. "Is that really you?"_

"_Yes, my daughter," the figure responded softly. "I apologize for not talking to you very much."_

"_Don't be sorry, Mom," Coba reassured Natalie sincerely, approaching her. "I know you're only able to speak to me when I need guidance more than ever." She hugged her mother, comforted to feel that she was like an actual living being instead of air. "It doesn't mean that I haven't missed you, though," Coba said sadly in a quiet voice._

_Natalie hugged her only daughter back warmly. "I know. I've missed you, as well." _

_The girl allowed herself to savor this moment with her deceased parent. She looked back up at her after what felt like a few minutes, gently pulling herself out of her embrace. "I'm confused, Mom."_

_"No kidding, Captain Obvious," Natalie joked in good humor. Coba could not help but smile at this, immediately feeling better. "There's that smile," her mother said fondly. Her expression became grave and understanding once more. "What's bothering you?"_

_"Well, I found out that Bruce is really my... you know..." Coba said awkwardly, "and where and how I got these powers." She regained stability of her voice. "He and Grandfather are keeping things from me that I know I must know to survive against Deathstroke, who's been after me since I was a baby. Bruce may or may not accept that I'm his... and he probably doesn't trust me anymore." Coba blinked back tears of confusion. "I don't know what to do, Mom. I... I feel so lost and alone."_

_The woman stroked Coba's long hair reassuringly. "Things will get better, daughter. You must remember: you are not truly alone in this fight; and some things are not as they seem. In the meantime, do not lose sight of what and whom are important to you. Take care, my little Coba. I love you."_

_It was only a brief second later that Coba felt her mother's presence completely leave the room. Even though she knew it was a bit late, Brooklyn softly murmured, "I love you too, Mom. I'll do my best."_

"_Coba? Are you okay?_"

Coba slowly opened her eyes to see a rat-like figure sitting on her chest, looking at her concernedly. It was then that she realized that her face was wet from shedding tears of mourning during her dream. "_Yeah, I'm fine, Ed,_" she answered in her pet's language. "_Just an illusion._" She looked at him, realizing something different about him. "_What are you wearing?_"

Ed flourished a long black cape that was hooked to a black and gray suit he was wearing. "_Check it out!_" He stood heroically on his hind legs. "_I am Cheddar. I am the Night. I. Am. Batrat!_" he proclaimed.

Brooklyn struggled hard to suppress a laugh, her face burning from the effort. "_Yes, yes you are. Where'd you get the suit?_"

"_I made it, duh!_" Ed stated indignantly. "_You're not the only inventor here, you know!_"

"_True,_" Coba grinned, stroking the rat fondly. Though the memory of her mother's spirit's visit in her dream was still fresh in her mind, Ed had helped her forget her sorrow.

~!~

Shriek awakened from his slumber, opening his eyes slowly as he did. To his surprise, he saw Spellbinder standing in front of him, his mask off and revealing his moving mouth. It took the sound genius a moment to remember where he was and how he and Spellbinder got to be there. It surprised him that the psychologist would be willing to show his face, but then again he knew that they were both aware of the other's true identity.

Realizing that Ira was talking to him, Walter put on his headgear, which he had removed so he could sleep easier. "What?" he growled.

"What do you mean, _what_?" Spellbinder asked, perplexed. "I've been saying the same thing repeatedly for about five minutes!"

"I'm deaf, you idiot," Shreeve retorted angrily.

Billings blinked, surprised. "Well, that's ironic."

"No kidding. Next time you want me to wake up, I suggest you poke me or something."

Spellbinder looked at Shriek's suit warily. Shriek could tell right away what was on the other villain's mind. "I didn't say you'd get lucky if you did," he smirked darkly.

_This dreg really _is_ a sick man_, Spellbinder thought, successfully hiding his fear from the sound expert.

Deathstroke had silently strode into the part of the warehouse the two villains were in as they conversed, evading their attention until he came up behind Spellbinder. "I see you two are socializing," he stated.

Shriek and Spellbinder both jumped at Slade's surprise appearance. "Can't you approach people a little more formally?" Spellbinder inquired a little irritably.

Slade narrowed his only eye at the psychologist. "I approach people however I want," he hissed. "If I didn't, you would probably be back in prison by now."

Ira remembered Wilson's intervention the previous afternoon when Batgirl and Nightwing were chasing him, and wisely chose not to push the issue even further.

"Let's discuss business now, shall we?" Deathstroke inquired authoritatively.

Shriek and Spellbinder nodded reluctantly after a brief moment.

"Good." Slade turned on the big screen behind him without turning his head, knowing that to turn on such dangerous foes at this time of day would undoubtedly result in an attack with unfavorable results for all three parties. A text document came up on the screen. "I want you to take a good, long look at this."

Shreeve studied the document, narrowing and widening his eyes repeatedly in surprise. _He's specific about what he wants, I'll give him that_, he thought. _His thoughts are probably darker than his personality, also. But what is his purpose for this thing?_

Billings read the description as well, equally surprised. _For one with much muscle, he certainly knows his anatomy_, he marvelled. _Though, there's something I'm not fully understanding. _He looked at Deathstroke. "Why show this to us?" he asked, keeping his voice calm in hopes of not provoking the villain to violence.

Deathstroke seemed to be amused by the psychologist's question. "I feel that you two are capable of building it. Who better for building a supersonic weapon that can kill a mind torturously than an expert in sound and one who knows the human brain like the back of his hand?"

The two enemies of the newest Batman could hardly believe what they had heard. _**That's **__what he plans to acheive from this thing?!_ Shriek thought in surprise.

_This man is more insane than Shreeve!_ thought Spellbinder in shock and horror, though keeping his feelings hidden from the mercenary.

"After all, I know what your deepest desire is," Slade continued, "which is another reason why I got you both involved." He could not help but chuckle darkly as the Shriek and Spellbinder stared at him in confusion. "It's not that hard to figure out. I desire the same thing: revenge on the Batman."

"Well, you could've just said that instead of threatening to destroy our life's work," Shriek stated. _Instead of threatening to kill Ollie as well._

"One can never be too certain that the others will not turn on him," Slade said levelly. He turned and began to walk away. "Consider what you both will need for the machine," he called over his shoulder, "then we'll discuss a plan of getting it." _The fools don't realize that I'm not after the same Batman as them_, he thought darkly. _Nor do they fully realize my true intentions of this machine, which the Bats will soon discover._

~!~

**Blüdhaven, late that afternoon.**

Grayson blocked Coba's attack with his bo staff as she swung hers at his waist. He quickly returned the blow, only for the girl to block it and trip him. Dick fell to the ground with a surprised grunt. Coba placed an end of her bo staff on his chest. "Surrender?" she inquired cheekily.

"Nope." Dick swiftly swiped his staff at her legs, tripping her. Coba hit the floor with a surprised gasp. Dick pinned her down before she could react, making her unable to move. "Balance and awareness are key when fighting an enemy with a weapon," he chided her in a stern voice, "even when he or she is downed." He got up and helped her stand, and noticed a look of anxiety in her eyes. "Take a break," he said calmly. "You need it after going non-stop for twenty minutes."

"Okay," Coba said quietly, calming herself down. "Quite a record for me, eh?"

"Yep. You alright?" he asked concernedly. "I didn't mean to scare you like that."

"I know," Brooklyn reassured him. "I'm fine. It's just—I don't know," she said awkwardly. "It seemed like what happened yesterday, when..." She trailed off, looking down at her feet.

Dick became more concerned. "When Slade had you pinned down?"

Coba paused, then nodded solemnly. "Yeah."

The man considered this, then sighed. "Kid, there's something I need to tell you," he said gravely.

"You don't have to," Coba calmly interrupted. "I know you were Slade's apprentice at some point."

"I thought I asked you not to interrupt me after reading my mind," Dick said sternly.

"I didn't need to read your mind. I... overheard your conversation with Bruce last night," Coba admitted. She looked at him once more. "But... why'd you train with him?"

Grayson's only eye betrayed an intense amount of anger, along with a hint of guilt. "He threatened to kill the Titans if I didn't."

Batgirl's eyes grew wider. "As in the _Teen Titans_?" she asked in surprise.

"Yeah." He noticed her surprise. "Why the sudden shock?"

"I'm just surprised that you're talking about a time when you were with them. Every time I've asked about when you were with them you'd become pretty distant."

"And you stopped asking after a while," Dick noted. "For that I'm grateful, though I feel that I should've told you about this sooner. I didn't want to talk about being with them not because we grew to hate each other, but because..." He trailed off.

"Because of Slade's constant feuds with you, and the marks they left," Coba said knowingly, a sad tone in her voice. "I can only imagine that you became so obsessed with stopping him that it tested your friendship and trust with the Titans."

Dick nodded gravely. "Many times. There have been a couple notable times, including the one when I had to..." _...be his apprentice._

Coba could hardly stand to see her grandfather feel so distant. _I wish we didn't have to talk about this_, she thought sadly, _but it doesn't look like we have much choice aside from accepting our deaths. _"What happened?" she asked quietly, keeping her voice gentle in hopes of not getting Grayson more upset.

The man looked at his granddaughter through his only eye solemnly for a moment before he began, unaware that Coba had stepped in his mind to get an idea of what was going on as he spoke. "He had contacted us one morning with a threat to use a Chronoton Detonator on Jump City—" w_here the T Tower is located_, he added mentally, unsure of whether or not young Brooklyn had known that— "unless we could stop him. We scoured the city the whole day, but every lead we had was a dead end. That is, until we learned Starfire was allergic to the core used for the machine."

"Metallic Chronium," Coba put in.

Grayson was surprised. "How did you know that?"

Brooklyn shrugged. "Just a guess. I tried working with it once when I was younger, trying to make a time machine." She shook her head, her face burning with embarrassment. "I had to stop the project when rashes formed on my arms. Plus, you said the weapon was a Chronoton Detonator, which pretty much gave away the name of the core." She noticed an even more surprised look from her grandfather. "I research materials and their uses before using them for my inventions."

"Good idea," Richard commented. "Shall I continue?"

"Yeah," Coba said with a nod, "go ahead."

"We followed Starfire's allergy through the sewer system," Dick said after a moment of trying to remember where he left off. "It wasn't long until we saw Slade's drones loading the weapon into a raft. Cinderblock broke through the wall right then and grabbed me. I told the others to go after the weapon, and I easily beat Cinderblock as they did." _Because of my rage about Slade. _"I found a tracking device on Cinderblock with Slade's base's location on it, and took it. I was too pleased with the fact that I was finally able to face Slade in person that I failed to realize how easy it all had been.

"I found Slade standing in front of a screen, watching my friends as they went after the detonator. He placed the remote on the floor and walked away, challenging me to take it. I went to grab it, but he attacked. As we fought, he kept telling me how much alike we are, but I denied it, my anger growing until I eventually beat him and grabbed the remote. To my surprise, the remote fell apart in my hands. It was then that I realized I was duped.

"Slade explained that the machine was a fake, just as the remote was. His plan was not to freeze time: it was something else entirely. The whole point was to seperate me from the others. He had been looking for—well... a successor."

"And he thought you were the best candidate?" Coba could not help but inquire.

Dick nodded sagely. "Exactly. Of course I refused, but he had some incentive to persuade me: he had used a ray to implant nanobots in my friends' blood cells." He hesitated, recalling the painful memory. "In order to save them, I agreed to serve Slade and never speak to them."

"Whoa," Coba breathed, taken aback by the incident. To her surprise, she realized that the story was not bringing up bitter feelings towards Grayson as she knew both he and herself had feared. Instead, she felt something else, though it was already present in a somewhat different way: respect for him. _He had to give up his freedom and some of what was left of his innocence to save his friends, even turning against them in the process._ "How did you get out of it?"

Nightwing thought about it for a moment. "Well... it happened during my last mission for him. Two factors helped me see a way out: when I refused to shoot Starfire he activated the probes, the other was who I was going to steal from."

"Who?"

"Wayne Enterprises."

Coba blinked, surprised at first, until she remembered that Bruce's company had a lot of equipment that villains would definitely steal. "So when you realized you nearly stole from the man who took you in and that Slade nearly killed your friends, you rebelled?"

"And fought him, yes," Dick replied solemnly with a nod. "Except this time, I couldn't beat him on my own. He warned me that if I disobeyed him again, he'd kill my friends. Defeated, I swore I wouldn't disobey him. That was the moment my friends broke in to rescue me, having just found out about the nanobots. To ensure that I didn't do anything stupid, Slade activated the probes."

Brooklyn's eyes widened. "What did you do then?" she asked, anxious from being caught up in the story and visualizing it.

"Well... I did something everyone would call 'stupid:' I infected myself with the nanobots. I told Slade that if he killed my friends, he'd lose his apprentice."

"And he hates to lose," Coba noted.

"Exactly."

"How did he react to this?"

"He shut off the nanobots." Dick rubbed his eyebrows. "We managed to defeat him in the ensuing battle, but he got away when his base was falling apart. We all got out okay, then returned to the T Tower and removed the nanobots." He sighed. "Still, things were never the same between me and the Titans after that."

Brooklyn knew that the story was over, yet she knew by the look in her grandfather's only eye that it still bothered him as though he were still going through it. She placed a sympathetic hand on his uninjured shoulder. "I'm sorry, Grandfather," she said gently. Her gaze suddenly hardened without her knowing it at first. "He won't hurt you again," she promised gruffly. "I don't know how he won't be able to, but I know he won't."

Dick blinked in surprise at the girl's statement, though Coba knew that he was not exactly reassured at first. He sighed, placing his uninjured arm over her shoulders. "As long as he doesn't hurt you, you'll be correct."

Coba nodded wordlessly, understanding that it would hurt him emotionally if she had been harmed by the dangerous man. At the same time, she could not hlp but feel a twinge of relief that her relationship with Grayson was strong as ever. _I wish I could say the same about Bruce, though_, she thought regretfully.

Several moments of solemn silence passed by. "But why would he allow Spellbinder to get away?" Coba wondered aloud at last. "It doesn't exactly sound like something he'd do."

"You're right about that," Grayson agreed sagely. "Any theories?"

"Maybe he has something planned that involves Spellbinder, possibly even Shriek?" Coba suggested. "Maybe... maybe he had something to do with at least one of their escapes from prison," she stated in a quiet, steady voice. "He may have something planned with them, or _for_ them. But... what could it be?"

"I don't know, kid," Dick said solemnly. "But we'll find out soon enough."

As if to atone his statement, Bruce's voice crackled on the radio. _"The silent alarm system at Wayne Tech just got tripped,"_ he said gravely, though Coba and Dick knew that he was talking to Terry, who was out on patrol at that time. _"Check it out."_

"_On my way,"_ Terry informed him.

At the sound of this, Coba instinctively grabbed her Batsuit. Grayson looked at her. "Where do you think you're going?" he asked concernedly.

"To help Terry," Coba replied determinedly from inside a dressing room. "I know Bruce won't like the fact that I'm cutting my training short, but Terry's my brother... _and_ Bruce's son. I _have_ to help him."

"Alright, I won't stop you," Dick gave in. He walked into another dressing room and donned his Nightwing suit. "Though you're not stopping me from coming along," he said as he quickly got it on and stepped back out.

Coba stepped out of the dressing room she was in, wearing her Batsuit, and grinned at him as she pulled her mask on. "I suspected as much." _And I figured you'd get your suit on well before I got mine on, as usual._ Without another word, the two heroes left the building.

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

**Sorry this one took so long to get up! Yeah, I always have a rough time when getting the villain's side of the story thought of and written, but I feel as though I'm getting the hang of it. Well, and I was also trying to figure out how to break up chapters, though I don't have them fully written yet. I feel that this story will have more than eleven chapters including the prologue and epilogue, but I'm hoping less than fifteen.**

**Partial writing credit goes to TRON0602, since some of the dialogue between Dick and Coba about when Dick was Slade's "apprentice" came from a role-play we had recently done. Thanks a ton for getting me aware of _Teen Titans_, my friend, and for allowing me to use dialogue from our RP. :D**

**The sequence with Ed putting on a Batsuit for himself was also TRON0602's idea, as a tribute to my rat Shadow, who died the day I posted the epilogue for "Last Resort". I would like to dedicate that scene to Shadow, TRON, and my newest rat Bruce (and yes, his middle name is Wayne), and another round of thanks goes to TRON. :)**

**I know I usually have Coba's dreams be nightmares, but this time I had it be more like a message from her mother. A vision during her slumber, if you will. Aside from Coba being based on Bruce, Terry, Dick, Selina (sort of), myself, Barbara (sort of), and Tim (mostly the comic book version, though he is pretty small in the BTAS episodes), Coba is also based on several other characters from literature: Hazel, Fiver, Bigwig, Blackberry (all four from **_**Watership Down**_**), Spider-Man (a little), Tails and Shadow (Sonic the Hedgehog), and Francis from the book (and film based on the book) **_**Felidae**_**. Like Fiver from **_**Watership Down**_**, Coba gets visions while she's awake. Like Francis from **_**Felidae**_**, she gets nightmares and weird dreams that are linked to future happenings. So yeah, there's a little more about her origins for ya.**

**The tension between Dick and Coba is pretty much over now, but, of course, I can't say the same about the one between Coba and Bruce. Well, I guess I **_**could**_** say it, but then I'd be lying. Unfortunately, the situation between them will get worse before it can get better. That's just the way things go with some conflicts in my stories.**

**Any-who, please leave a review if you would like to (I love reading those!) and have a great rest of your day! :D**


	5. Chapter 4: Setbacks

**Author's Notes:**

**Wow, this was up much sooner than I expected! Thanks to everyone for their continued support. There's action in this chapter, then plotting stuff, then the feels... yeah, it holds quite a bit.**

**Silverlynx13 had asked a question in their most recent review concerning Ed's favorite Iron Maiden song, and I decided to address it in this since it's something some of you may be wondering as well. To be honest, I wasn't sure which song Ed would love over all the others, so I pretty much reflected on my fave Maiden songs, and I narrowed it down to two candidates: "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" and "The Trooper." Considering that "The Trooper" is a heck of a lot shorter than "Rime of the Ancient Mariner," and more likely to be enjoyed by a rat in that sense, I've decided to have Ed's favorite song be "The Trooper."**

**Without further ado, please read, review, and enjoy...**

* * *

Shriek and Spellbinder ran out of the Wayne Tech building located half-way between Blüdhaven and Gotham. Each villain was carrying a sack of stolen equipment apiece as they bolted down the alleyways before them in a rush, aiming to put as much distance between themselves and the building as possible. Both of them knew that Batman would show up at the business structure at any given moment now. After running nine blocks, they stopped behind a dumpster, panting for breath.

Spellbinder pulled out a radio. "Deathstroke, this is Spellbinder. We have the parts."

"Good," Slade's voice replied, satisfied. "Now for phase two."

Billings nodded to Shreeve, who nodded back. _Let the games begin_, they each thought with small, sinister grins.

A long shadow cast across the alleyway until it covered the two men. "I don't suppose you have a receipt for all of that?" a gruff voice stated.

Shriek grinned evilly behind his mask. "No, _Batman_," he said smoothly in a mock irritated voice, "but why don't we just show you what we _do_ have for it?" He raised up his arms, then released a powerful sound wave at the owner of the shadow.

Batman, who was standing on the edge of a building that towered above the men, jumped just in time as the wave destroyed the ledge. He dodged the rest of the wave, then threw batarangs at Shriek and Spellbinder. As if on cue, another set of batarangs flew at the villains. While Shriek destroyed the first set of batarangs with another wave and knocked Terry into a dumpster at the same time, the other weapons struck both him and the psychologist. Two shadows glided down to the side of the villains opposite of the one Terry was now on. Both figures glared at the men, but none more fiercely than the smallest of the villains' attackers. "Maybe because he's already seen it before," the small figure snarled.

"No one asked for your opinion, Batrunt," Shriek retorted.

"Maybe not, but no one said they didn't, either," Batgirl countered roguishly.

Nightwing found himself having to hide a fond smile at Coba's statement. _She's my granddaughter, all right_, he thought. He instead glared at the villains. "It's over," he growled.

Both Spellbinder and Shriek grinned wickedly behind their masks. "For _you_, perhaps," Shriek snarled.

At that moment, Spellbinder pulled out his sphere. The deceiving white light flashed from it as Shriek released a sound blast directed at Dick. "Look out!" Coba yelled, shoving Dick out of the wave's path. The wave struck Coba instead, since she was unable to get out of the way in time. The force of it thrust her into a concrete wall, illiciting several sickening cracks from her body and knocking the breath out of her lungs.

_Not the desired target_, Spellbinder thought darkly as he and his partner approached the girl, _but satisfactory nonetheless._

Brooklyn painfully tried to get up from where she lay, but was dismayed when her agony was too great. All she could do was glare defiantly at the villains...

...and hear voices she recognized growing louder.

_"Get away from me, dummy!" _a former classmate growled.

_"Failure!" _Selina screamed. _"You let my daughter die!"_

_"Worthless cripple!" _the voice of an old teacher bellowed. _"Why can't you do anything right?"_

_"I'll never be pleased with anything you do." _

The last words, spoken by Bruce, tore Coba's heart apart. As the voices increased in volume and number, the girl covered her ears to try to block them out. Unfortunately, the voices continued to grow. Despite the physical pain she felt, she could not hold back the urge to scream: "Shut up!"

~!~

From inside the warehouse, Slade was watching and listening to the situation from the camera sensors he had installed in Shriek and Spellbinder's masks the night before while they had been sleeping. He chuckled wickedly at the sight of Coba's ailing. "This is turning out to be better than I imagined," he said quietly.

~!~

Although they were confused by Coba's shout—having not been able to hear the voices—the villains snapped out of their shock before Spellbinder planted a foot on her back to hold her down as Shriek aimed one of his sound generators at her head. "Lights out, runt," he snarled.

"Hey!" Nightwing shouted gruffly. Without wasting another moment, he kicked Shriek away from Batgirl. He charged at Shriek again as the villain rose once more, leaving his bag of stolen goods on the ground.

Shattering sounds told Spellbinder and Coba that some of the items in Shriek's bag were broken from he drop. Too the small teen's surprise, the voices she was hearing suddenly stopped. _What on earth? _She shook her head to clear it. _Worry about that later, kid. You've got this monkey still on your back._

Ignoring the pain in her ribs, Coba reached back and grabbed Spellbinder's free leg before thrusting him away from her. Billings hit the cement ground a few feet away, then stood up once more, ready to kick the girl in the face. Coba glared dangerously at him, causing him to think twice about his motives. He looked at Shriek, who was blocking Grayson's attacks. "Come on!" he shouted, motioning for Shriek to follow.

Shreeve noticed his partner's request, then swiftly swatted Nightwing aside. Not willing to waste another precious second, the sound genius grabbed his bag and followed his partner down the winding alleyways. Terry hauled himself out of the dumpster just in time to see the villains round the corner. He turned to Nightwing. "I'll take care of this," he informed the older hero. "You help Batgirl!" After receiving a nod from Dick, Terry dashed off after the villains.

Dick immediately knelt down next to Brooklyn once Batman had left. He began to help her to stand, but stopped when he noticed her face twist in agony. "What hurts?" he inquired concernedly.

"Just my ribs," Coba's voice hissed painfully. "They're mostly cracked, though some may be broken."

With this in mind, Grayson carefully lifted her to her feet, avoiding her injuries. "You're lucky that's all that happened," he said grimly. "If not for the protection of your suit, that wave would've ripped right through you." He paused awkwardly. "Guess I owe you a thanks."

Coba grinned harmlessly. "Right back at you." She became grave once more. "Even though I feel as though Shriek and Spellbinder weren't aiming to kill me."

"What were they planning to do to you, then?" Dick asked concernedly.

"I don't know, Grandfather," the young warrior said quietly in a sad voice. "I just don't know."

Rather than pushing the issue further, Grayson voiced their next action: "We'd best get you back to the cave. We need to be sure nothing is really broken."

"Alright," Coba said with a nod, though more dread filled her heart. _What's Bruce going to say about this?_

~!~

The sun had completely set by the time Shriek and Spellbinder returned to the warehouse. They were worn out from being chased by Batman, but were successfully able to lose him several miles back. Seeing Slade standing on the other side of the warehouse, the two villains walked over to him before carefully setting their bags of stolen equipment down in front of him.

"Good," Slade stated as he carefully got out all of the parts.

Spellbinder and Shriek exchanged looks of relief. They did not want to see Deathstroke in a bad mood, and it seemed that they had succeeded in avoiding that.

"What do you call _this_?!" the mercenary demanded to know, pulling out two broken items from Shriek's bag.

_Slag it_, both villains thought. "An interference by Nightwing," Shreeve answered with an agitated snarl. "I dropped the sack when he attacked me."

Deathstroke glared at Shriek through his only eye. "That's no excuse," he hissed. "We needed these pieces!"

"Actually, they were minorities," Billings stated. "We only grabbed them for in case any of the other pieces broke."

"Then explain to me why Batgirl's mind seemed to clear when they were broken!"

Spellbinder blinked in confusion. "Wait, what?"

Slade growled impatiently, then took a breath to calm himself. "The whole part of phase two relied on checking to see if all of those pieces combined had any effect on Batgirl," he explained. "When she yelled 'shut up,' it meant that she was hearing something, obviously from those parts."

"So, you're saying that Batgirl has strong hearing?" Shriek inquired. _Wow, I wish I could trade my hearing for hers._

Wilson was obviously unamused. "That is what I'm saying." _For the most part._ "However, for the machine to work the way I want it to, the parts—including the ones broken—need to be assembled and magnified by each of your fields: sound and the human mind." He gestured to all of the unbroken pieces. "Put these pieces together first, then you'll go back and get the pieces you broke to complete the machine." He turned his back on them and began walking away, though his voice remained as venomous as ever. "Don't disappoint me again."

Despite the fact that the man had his back turned to them, neither Shriek nor Spellbinder dared to attack him. They knew that to try such a risky stunt would result in their deaths—and the destruction of their labs and Shriek's assistant. Begrudgingly, they set about figuring out how to put the pieces together.

~!~

In the Batcave, Bruce sat in front of the computer as usual, listening for Terry's report. Half an hour had passed since they had received word of the robbery, and Bruce was anxious as ever to hear how it went. Aaron had long since returned to his apartment, having made a full recovery through the previous night. Ace and Ed lay next to Bruce's chair. Each animal dozed quietly, and Wayne could not help but wish he could feel so luxurious as they did.

A noise alarmed all three of them. Bruce stood up with a start and looked towards the cave entrance, surprised to see a single headlight. He recognized the engine of the Wingcycle as it came to a stop. _Are Dick and Coba done with practice _already_? _ he wondered. It was then that he noticed Grayson get off and aid Coba out of the passenger sidecar. The girl was clearly in agony. "What happened?" Wayne inquired, helping Dick aid Coba to an operating table.

It was obvious to Dick and Coba that Bruce had no idea they were going to answer the call for the robbery as well. Nightwing sagely explained what had happened as they got Brooklyn onto the table. Coba watched uncomfortably from where she lay as Bruce's expression hardened at the description of the situation. "There's something I need to discuss with you," Bruce said to Dick. "Would you mind waiting upstairs until I get done helping Coba?"

"Alright," the one-eyed man agreed. He looked at his granddaughter sagely. "Get better, kid," he said gently, managing a small grin. He walked up the stone stair case leading up to Wayne Manor without once looking back.

Bruce ran an x-ray machine over Coba. Thanks to some adjustments the girl had made to her suit, her legal guardian was able to use the machine without removing the suit. "None of your ribs are broken," he noted aloud, "but six of them are cracked, two to the point of almost being broken." He pulled out a needle with some sort of liquid Coba recognized from the first time she had cracked her ribs—the night she became Batgirl—and prepared to inject it into her ribs. "This'll hurt a bit."

_A _bit_?!_ Coba thought. _I know it's supposed to speed up my healing by twice the speed, but the process really isn't that enjoyable. _She clenched her fists and resisted the strong urge to scream as Bruce injected the serum into a crack in one of the more damaged ribs.

"I'll leave it up to you to bandage your chest. I need to discuss something with your grandfather."

"Alright," Coba gasped through her pain. "Thanks."

The sudden rage in the first Batman's eyes told her that she had said the wrong thing. "Don't waste your breath," he growled. "You've disappointed me tonight in stopping your training. Then you went out there, and got yourself hurt. Can't you do anything right?" He paused angrily, then added: "You are not to leave the cave until you have recovered, understood?"

"Yes, sir," Coba replied quietly, nodding. _But I did the same thing you would've done!_ she had wanted to counter, but realized that it was not in her heart to argue with Bruce. _Is that why he hates me now?_ she wondered sadly._ Because I'm like the one living person he hates most: himself? That I'm a version of him, but with a crippled leg and powers?_

"Let's hope you can do _that_ right," Wayne snarled, then turned and hobbled out of the cave in rage.

Ace and Ed looked at his fleeing form, equally dismayed by his behavior towards the small teen. Sadly, Coba took off her suit and bandaged her chest tightly to support her injured ribs, yet the two animals noticed that she was wrapping it so tightly that she hurt even more. "_Darn it!_" Ed quietly squeaked to Ace. "_Why did Bruce have to go and make Coba feel that she needs to punish herself?_"

"_Beats me,_" Ace whined back. An idea popped into his head. "_Hey, Ed, I've got a little plan._"

Ed looked at his "partner in crime" curiously. "_What might that be?_" He listened as Ace "whispered" the idea to him, then nodded enthusiastically. The odd duo hid behind a rock pillar, carefully avoiding Coba's gaze.

Coba put her suit back on once she was finished wrapping her chest, then lay back down on the table, struggling hard not to cry, knowing the strain of crying would hurt her chest even more. _I don't need that much punishment. _Her gaze shifted to Ace and Ed, who were making some movements behind the pillar. _What on earth are they doing now? _she wondered.

As if in answer to her question, Ed and Ace jumped out from behind the pillar, each wearing their own version of the original Batsuit. "_I'm telling you,_" the rat stated: "_the Batsuit looks better on me!_"

"_I beg to differ,_" the dog growled in mock rage. "I_ look more stunning._"

"_Yeah,_" Ed snorted. "_Stunningly stupid!_"

Ace's plan went up in flames with Ed's statement. "_You take that back, little pipsqueak!_" Ace barked. He jumped at Ed, who quickly ran between his legs with a startled squeak, and chased him around the cave.

Brooklyn could not help but smile at their antics. She knew that she did not need to worry about their safety, since Ed was so skilled at maneuvering that he could always outrun Ace. However, a sudden change in their direction caused her smile to immediately evaporate. "_Look out!_" she barked in dog.

Both Ed and Ace looked ahead to realize too late what had concerned Coba. They tried hard to stop in time, but had no control as they smashed into and felled the Exo-suit.

* * *

**Uh oh... more trouble ahead for Coba and Bruce... all because of a suit...**

**Well, okay, not all the trouble will be because of the Exo-suit falling and possibly breaking, but some of it will be. Poor Coba... all the trouble I put her through just to keep myself and the readers on the edge of their seats... I'm kinda cruel that way.**

_**I pointed that out in**_** Eyewitness of the Past_, remember?_**

**Yes, I do remember that.**

**The bit with Ed and Ace in Batsuits was TRON0602's idea, not mine. Your suggestions are always appreciated, my friend!**

**Any-who, please leave a review and have a great rest of your day! :D**


	6. Chapter 5: Digging Deeper

Taking a mighty yet strenuous leap, Coba quickly grabbed the Exo-suit before it could hit the floor. The weight of the suit caused her to hit the ground, making her ribs hurt more, but she somehow managed to push it back up. Once she had stood it steadily, she cast a stern glance at Ace and Ed, who instinctively backed away. Coba calmed herself when she realized that she was about to yell at them like Bruce had done to her. "Sorry," she apologized. "I know you were trying to help, and for that I thank you. Just be more careful next time, okay?"

Ed and Ace nodded, their eyes wide from the shock they had also experienced.

"Do you know if Bruce got a report on the items Shriek and Spellbinder stole?" the small warrior inquired.

Ace shook his large black head. "_I don't know. I was asleep most of the time._"

"_I was too,_" Ed piped up, "_but I know he didn't. He was too concerned with Terry reporting back._"

"Why would he leave the cave the way he did instead of having me leave so he could talk to Grandfather?" Coba wondered.

"_He found the radio in your room, Coba,_" Ace answered sagely. "_He figured that you had heard them last night. It was all he could do to not destroy it or throw it out the window._"

_Another reason why he's mad with me, no doubt_, Brooklyn thought sadly. _How many times must I mess things up? _Pushing those thoughts aside, she walked over to the computer and sat down in the chair, shifting so she could comfortably sit in it. "Computer, make a list of the items stolen from Wayne Tech in the past three hours," she said as steadily as she could without hurting herself.

The screen displayed a loading bar, and Coba was surprised to see it say "9 mins 59 secs, 9 mins 58 secs..." _Wow, there must've been quite a bit stolen if the Batcomputer's taking _this_ long, or the reports aren't quite complete yet_, she thought. _Usually it's up in a matter of seconds. Well, it's not quite enough time for me to rest, considering that I might not be able to get back up from it._

Coba's gaze shifted around the cave, then stopped on the Exo-suit. _Maybe I should check and make sure it's not damaged at all from Ace and Ed bumping it._ She shook her head. _No, better not. Bruce may get even more upset if I try. Then again, he may get mad with me for not. _She pondered it for a few moments, then let out a sigh of despair. _Slag it. I'll do it anyway._

Coba gingerly walked over to the Exo-suit, then carefully checked it to avoid hurting herself much more. _Well, it's not dented at all_, she noted. _But wow, it sure is heavy..._ Then it hit her. _That might be why it strains Bruce so much. Maybe if I replace the heavier parts with some more durable yet lighter parts, it'll make it easier for him to use. Not only that, but it might increase endurance and effort as well. No, kid_, she argued with herself, _he'll never forgive you for messing with his stuff. And Terry may never forgive you for granting Bruce the opportunity to be Batman again. Then again..._

Brooklyn's eyes grew wide with shock. _I need to. We'll _all_ need it to be in good condition if and when we need it. If I don't work on it, no one will survive. _Dread clouded her eyes. _But what's coming that'll cause us to need it? _She blinked hard. _I'm doing it. Bruce, I'm sorry for letting you down again, but this is something that needs to be done._

~!~

After about half an hour of working, Shriek and Spellbinder finally finished building the machine with the parts they had. They looked over their product, each of them noting where the other two pieces were to be placed. "Looks like everything is in place," Shriek stated aloud.

Spellbinder snorted. "Yeah, everything except the two pieces you broke."

Normally the sound expert would be peeved by those words. However, he detected something else in his partner's voice: a hint of respect. Shriek had somewhat reluctantly admitted to himself that he too began to feel the same towards Spellbinder whilst building the machine. Unfortuneately, he knew how dangerous it would be to tell Spellbinder this. "We'll get them tomorrow night," he said gruffly. "The cops should be cleared from Wayne Tech by then."

"Tomorrow night is not soon enough," Slade stated, walking into the room until he was directly next to the two villains. "You must have this machine complete tonight, police or no police."

Billings glared from behind his mask. "Exactly how do you propose we do that?" he asked incredulously.

Slade seemed a bit amused by this. "You've each gotten past them before," he pointed out smoothly. "Figure it out yourselves."

Shreeve was still rather leary of the timing. "Why do you want it done so soon? What exactly _is_ going through that mind of yours that's sicker than my own?"

Deathstroke was dangerously silent for a moment. "There's an old saying," he said slowly: "'there's no time like the present.'"

Shriek and Spellbinder grimly stared at Slade. They realized that it would be a waste of time to try to argue with the mercenary, for he would not be swayed. _He wants this more than either of us do_, Spellbinder noted in shock. "Alright, you win," he said, managing to keep his voice mostly emotionless. "We're going."

"Then stay sharp," the one-eyed man advised his recruits as they started to leave the warehouse once more to carry out their mission. "Batman is bound to still be out there. You know what to do with Batgirl if she shows."

_Yes, we get it! _the psychologist wanted to scream. _We're not forgetful fools like how you treat us to be!_

~!~

Coba stood in the workshop of the Batcave, gingerly using a wrench to tighten and loosen the bolts to hold the newest additions to the Exo-suit and to modify the tightness. She had removed the large, long shoulder guards and replaced them with shorter, lighter ones that she knew could handle much more than the original ones. In addition to that, she replaced more of the other metal plates with the lighter—yet more durable—material, then slightly loosened the bolts located at the joints of the suit to increase mobility without the risk of dislocating the limbs. She added a few power cells to the inside of the suit, giving it a lot more strength for the user.

_Bruce will hate me for doing this_, Coba thought repeatedly as she worked, _but at least he'll be safer than he would've been when the time comes for him to wear it. I just wish I could prove how sorry I am for disappointing him so much. _Just as she finished her task, another thought occurred to her. _Should _I _be the sorry one, or should _Bruce_ be?_

"List of items stolen from Wayne-Tech complete," the computer echoed, interrupting the girl from her mental notes.

After putting the tools and materials she used back in their designated drawers, Coba walked back over to the computer and carefully sat back down in the chair. She looked over the list of shop-lifted materials to find that some had been stolen at different times, although a huge cluster of them at one particular time at the bottom of the list told her that that was when Shriek and Spellbinder had broken in. Coba clicked on the time-frame before studying the names of each item carefully. _Of course they can all make a super-sonic weapon_, she thought. _Just Shreeve and Billings' styles. _

Then she remembered her encounter with them earlier that evening. _Those voices I heard got louder as they came closer_, she recalled. _They must have come from those parts somehow, like some kinds of vibrations bouncing off of each other. The voices only stopped when Shriek dropped his bag. _An idea popped into her head. "Computer, combine frequencies from items stolen at 6:32 PM."

Sure enough, as soon as the Batcomputer did as Coba commanded, she heard the voices again. This time, Coba managed to focus on her task instead of giving in to the degrading words she heard. She took off one item at a time from the list, seeing if there was any change in volume, before adding them back on. The voices would fade a little, but almost completely stopped when she removed one item near the bottom. She replaced it, then removed the final device, which had the same effect. She took off both of those items, and the voices were completely gone.

_So those are the ones that broke_, she realized. "Computer, combine frequncies of the last two items on the list."

To Brooklyn's surprise, the voices did not return. _That's a bit strange_, she thought, _but then again I've dealt with stranger. It appears that those two are just the amplifiers for the other pieces. That Wayne Tech building they stole from is the only place that carries them. Which means... _Coba drew in a sharp gasp, wincing at the pain in her ribs. _Which means they'll return to get them. I don't doubt for one moment that Slade will want them to go back there tonight._

Coba quickly wrote her discoveries down on a slip of paper, then stood up from the chair and strode over to the Batcycle. _It won't help keep my ribs from hurting_, she thought grimly, _but it's the only mode of transportation available to me right now. At least Grandfather's been giving me driving lessons as well as combat lessons._

"Coba!"

The girl stopped in her tracks, then turned to see Bruce standing there. "What are you doing?" he demanded to know. "You're supposed to be resting up!"

"Spellbinder and Shriek are going to go back to Wayne Tech," Coba explained as calmly as she possibly could, despite being alarmed by the lack of compassion in her guardian's voice. "They have to be stopped."

"You're not up to it, kid," Bruce stated bluntly. "You'll get yourself killed out there!"

"Maybe, maybe not." Coba's eyes narrowed into a Batglare. "But I'd rather die out there than live here when I'm not wanted. And by the way, I made adjustments to your Exo-suit to help your health whenever you use it," she added spitefully.

Wayne quirked an eyebrow, his ice blue eyes horrifically angered. "You did _what_?!" he yelled. "I told you to never mess with my equipment without my permission!"

Brooklyn, surprisingly, was not intimidated by Bruce's glare. "Proof that you don't appreciate anything I do, anymore," she said coldly.

"Stop that," Bruce stated gruffly. "You're behaving like an ungrateful child!"

"I _am_ still a child!" Batgirl exploded. "And I _am_ ungrateful of the way you've been treating me since we found out about my powers! Powers I haven't really even _developed_, yet! You've been treating me like I'm a disgrace to you when I've been doing nothing but my best to help you!"

Bruce could not stop a hand from striking the girl across her face. "You _haven't_ done your best, pathetic little runt!" he spat. "That's always been your problem! You can't control your emotions, you're always scared stiff, and you trust nothing but your psychic abilities!"

Coba looked back up at Bruce in shock at what he had just said and done to her. After a moment, her cobalt blue gaze shifted into a glare. "I have _always_ done my best," she said quietly in a cold voice. "I may not ever be able to fully control my emotions or fear like you can, but I've learned to trust more than just my psychic feelings: I trust Terry, Dana, Herbst, Grandfather... and I trusted _you_," she finished in a sad tone.

The old man stopped, his eyes growing wide in realization. "Coba," he started in a quiet voice.

Without warning, Coba yanked off her Batgirl mask and threw it to the ground between herself and Bruce. She momentarily stared at him angrily through the smaller mask she had on beneath her Batmask, her eyes welling up with tears, then sorrowfully got on the Batcycle. Pulling on the helmet, she drove out of the Batcave without glancing back at Bruce.

The first Batman could only watch regretfully as the girl sped out. He gingerly bent down and picked up his young ward's mask, staring at it forlornly. After casting another guilty glance at the Batcave entrance, he limped over to the Batcomputer, where Ed and Ace were sitting, each looking at him in disbelief. _Time to try to crack this case_, he thought sadly, not daring to pet either of the animals, knowing that at this point they may try to bite him. Not that he would blame them for doing so this time.

To Bruce's surprise, when he looked at the computer's console, he saw the note Coba had written. He read it carefully, his eyes growing wider and wider as he did so. _She already determined Shriek and Spellbinder's next move_, he realized with yet another pang of guilt. _She didn't just use her strong hearing to do so, but she used her brain as well. And... I yelled at her for not meeting my expectations. _He closed his eyes solemnly. _She's been exceeding them all along, and I made her feel otherwise. And to think I just talked to Dick about him taking her in._ He rubbed his eyebrows in realization._ Only now do I understand why he refused: Coba and I need to work this out... as a family normally would. _Without a second thought about it, Bruce pressed a button on the radio. "Brooklyn, do you copy?" he asked solemnly.

Silence.

"Coba, come in!" Bruce said, his tone gaining seriousness.

Still silent.

"Coba!" Wayne cried out in concern.

_"Bruce, what's your problem? Wasn't Coba in the cave with you?"_

"Terry!" Bruce could not stop himself from saying in relief, despite not getting the respondant he had wanted. He forced himself to regain most of his composure before continuing. "She was, but..." _No, I can't tell him about our fight right now._ "She's heading back to Wayne Tech," he said instead. "Shreeve and Billings are going back there to get at least two more items."

_"I see it,"_ the teenage Batman replied sagely. _"The building just got another hole knocked into it!"_

Bruce's eyes grew wider until a bystander could have sworn that they would pop right out of his head. "Stop them, now!" he barked.

_"Okay okay, keep your girdle on,"_ Terry retorted. _"I was going to, anyway."_

A small click on the receiving end of the line told Wayne that the boy had turned off the com-link. "Good luck," he murmured, despite knowing Terry would not be able to hear it.

He could only hope, however, that Coba could hear it.

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

**Yeah, this was a bit rushed, but I think it still turned out good. In an emotionally strenuous sort of way. I know the villain parts have not been as long as the hero parts, but this is mostly because I'm still quite a bit unused to writing villain parts. More because I prefer the heroes, really. I'm also not as technologically aware of things as the Bats or the villains are, so I couldn't go into depth on that... :/ That's just the way things go...**

**Bruce is finally starting to realize what he had been doing to Coba. But is he waking up to this too late? Will he be able to apologize to the young hero? These questions and more shall be answered as the story continues.**

**Have a great rest of your day! :D**


	7. Chapter 6: Endless Sacrifice

**Author's Notes:**

**Yay! This chapter's done! It didn't take as long as previous ones did, but it was still a bit of a trick. I managed to get a lot of it done yesterday while at school (during my free time, which I usually have a lot of), and I think it came out pretty good.**

* * *

"Come on!" Spellbinder urged Shriek as the psychologist stepped into the Wayne Tech building they had infiltrated earlier. "The sooner we get this done, the better."

"You think I don't know that?" Shriek snarled, following after him.

Spellbinder suppressed a sigh of despair. The duo had just barely managed to knock out or kill all of the police officers, with Shriek doing all of the killing. Billings did not approve of Shreeve's actions, but the man had retorted that all of the cops were going to die at some point further along their plans, and Spellbinder knew better than to argue with the psychotic sound genius.

After running down the corridors, the odd duo came to a stop in the main storage room. They stepped into the room cautiously, only turning on one of the ten lights to aid in finding the items they sought. The room was surprisingly dusty and poorly taken care of, though very organized. At the far back of the room was a computer station, which both men guessed was for helping in keeping track of what the company had in stock. Shriek came to a stop in front of a couple of glass containers containing the parts they needed. He lifted his arms, then prepared to shatter the glass with a wave powerful enough to do so, though not powerful enough to damage the parts.

A sudden sound of numerous objects falling to the ground from behind caused both villains to turn in alarm. Without a second thought, Spellbinder lifted his sphere and Shriek shot a sound blast to add to the power of the ball.

_So much for the element of surprise_, Terry thought ruefully as he dodged the powerful wave caused by Shriek and Spellbinder's combined resources. _Dang those poorly stacked books! I thought they'd withstand a small accidental bump, but apparently not!_ The wave instead hit a wall behind him, tearing a sharp hole in it. He grinned competitively to the two villains. "Is that the best you can do?" he mocked.

"I believe, Batman," Spellbinder snarled as he lifted his ball once more, "it is _you_ who should do better."

Shriek grinned behind his mask in malignant agreement with his partner's statement. He aimed an arm of his suit in precision with Spellbinder's sphere, moving a growing wave across the room in Batman's direction. Terry ducked under, jumped over, and ran to and fro to dodge the wave as he neared two of his deadliest foes. The villains were unable to fully hide their dismay at Terry's progression as the teen hero slammed his fists into their faces. They hit the floor hard, their supersonic wave stopped by the disruption.

Not, however, before it struck a computer station in the back of the room.

~!~

Coba sped down the highway as fast as she could get the Batcycle to go without losing control of the vehicle. Her wavy, long black hair flowed behind her without the cover of her Batgirl mask or the restraint of a hair tie, though the helmet she wore covered some of it. She swerved recklessly past slower traffic, knowing that if she did not do so she would not be on time to stop Shriek and Spellbinder—or to save Batman. Having overheard Terry and Bruce's conversation, she knew right away that Terry would not stand a chance alone against the two villains at once. This knowledge caused her to drive a little faster. _I know they have something planned for me, but I can't let it stop me from helping Ter. Bruce may not approve of my actions, but_—

Brooklyn suddenly had to pull the Batcycle over, grief taking immediate control of her. _Bruce doesn't really care if I live or die_, she thought sadly as she rubbed the part of her face her legal guardian—her _father_—had struck. Though the physical stinging was gone, she could still feel the emotional pain from the slap as though it had occurred at that moment instead of almost ten minutes ago. _And to think I looked up to him, accepted him as a father figure, a role model, and was willing to give my life for him, thinking he would do the same no matter what._

Tears began to form in Coba's eyes. _First Mom died, then Dad was killed, now Bruce has practically disowned me. Am I... not meant to have parents? Any one to show me right from wrong? To help me when I have a problem? Grandfather does that already, but if he became my legal guardian, would I lose him? And Grandmother? Would I lose Terry if he could?_

_Terry!_ Coba jerked herself out of her troubled thoughts at the thought of her half-brother and a nearby explosion, remembering the current situation. She then realized that she was only a block away from the Wayne Tech building. _I can't think about what I'll have to consider later. My brother needs me right now, not the other way around. _Without any further hesitation, she hid the Batcycle next to the parked Batmobile in the alley, removed her helmet, then turned on her suit's rocket launchers and opened up the gliders, soaring up towards the upper levels where she knew the explosion had occurred.

~!~

The force of the explosion caused by the obliterated computers thrust Batman headfirst into a wall. His mask's long ears kept his head from actually colliding with the cement, but did little to protect him from feeling pain. He painfully groaned as he tried to to get up and face Shriek and Spellbinder, who were already rising once more. To his dismay, his ears were stuck fast into the wall. It was all Terry could do to vainly try to pry himself free as his opponents prepared to strike him with another of their signature waves. He knew—just as well as they did—that this wave would kill him.

Two batarangs flew at the villains, one striking one of Shriek's sound generators and the other striking Spellbinder's sphere. The glass ball broke into several hundred pieces, most of them falling to the floor. The sound genius immediately pushed the damaged generator out of his suit. A dark figure Terry could not recognize slammed into the evil men, knocking them away from him.

A pained groan from the newcomer caused Terry to realize who his savior was with a jolt. The figure stood beside him. "You okay?" a young yet somewhat deep female voice inquired.

"For the moment," McGinnis replied gruffly, still trying to get free. "What are you doing here, Batgirl? Where's your—"

"—mask? I left it at home with my confidence," Coba answered curtly with a hint of regret in her voice. _I almost wish I brought it along anyway, though I'm wearing one that shields against Spellbinder's tricks. _

Terry finally pulled his mask free of the wall as Shriek charged towards him. The villain struck a clawed hand at the young Dark Knight's chest. Terry instinctively caught the arm and, narrowing his eyes determinedly, slammed a fist into Walter's gut. Shriek grunted in pain, but recovered quickly and slashed Batman's arm. The young man winced, then threw Shriek into the wall.

As their fight continued, Batgirl and Spellbinder were caught up in their own quarrel. Ira jumped at Coba with some of the glass shards from his sphere that were still in his hand, prepared to slam the shards into an unprotected part of her face. Coba managed to grab his wrist, then slammed her right knee into his stomach before kicking him across the room. Spellbinder stumbled, then charged back at her with a staggered run. The girl returned the charge, ramming her shoulder into her taller opponent's torso and running until she had slammed him hard into a wall.

Coba's harsh feat had caused her cracked ribs to hurt even more, making her wince at the pain that told her that they had cracked further. Taking advantage of her distraction, Spellbinder slashed her face repeatedly with the shards, hitting her cheeks and forehead until her entire face—even her black mask—was covered with the scarlet blood running down from her wounds.

Brooklyn was even more pained now, but despite this she mercilessly slammed her fist into Billings's face before he had the chance to strike her again. Her blood was starting to run into her eyes, blinding her, though she fought harder and faster instead of slowing down to deliver precise punches, relying on the varying sounds of Spellbinder's pained grunts to tell her where she was hitting. She refused to stop until she heard him hit the ground and fail to get back up. Although such attacks from anyone could have killed Spellbinder, she could tell by his breathing that he was still conscious, just dazed. Wiping a hand over her eyes to remove most of the blood that got in them, Coba pulled a pair of handcuffs out from her utility belt and prepared to detain the villain.

~!~

Unbeknownst to the crime-fighting duo, their mentor was watching the battle from Terry's visor's camera, with Ed and Ace watching as well.

Bruce stared at the computer screen tensely, watching as Terry and Shriek fought relentlessly. Every now and then the camera would catch a glimpse of Coba and Spellbinder's brawl. He felt the breath catch in his throat when he saw Coba slam Spellbinder into the wall, and could do nothing but watch helplessly as she was hit. His hopes for her survival were renewed as she retaliated. Even Ed and Ace jumped up and down excitedly, Ed squeaking and Ace barking. But despite Bruce's fears for the teens' safety, he also felt a sense of pride. _They're doing well_, he marveled. _Better than I have done in years. _

Wayne frowned. _I underestimated them, especially Coba. Both of them have grown from their experiences in the field, as I had, and have been carrying on my legacy, even though I often look down on them. I keep waiting for them to fail, and for my flaws to be repaired so I can continue my mission on my own. Whenever they started showing potential, or when they made a mistake, or even find their own abilities, I'd become irritated with them. _He looked down and closed his eyes. _Is that why I failed as a father for Damian? And Coba? Just because I couldn't accept that they're different from me because of certain experiences? Or is it because I couldn't accept that they're different, but have so much in common with me? Have I grown to hate myself so much that I've turned my back on my children, biological and adopted alike, when they'd show similarities to me?_

The old man looked up and once again felt horror seize him as he noticed a shift in the fight between the young Batman and Shriek. Ace barked out angrily at the sight as well, while Ed could only stare at the screen wide-eyed. Bruce impulsively turned on the microphone. "Terry, look out!" he urgently shouted into it.

~!~

Terry's ears ached from Bruce's yelling, but had no time to move as Shriek aimed an undamaged sound generator at a ceiling post directly above the young man. Coba's sharp hearing picked up her legal guardian's warning and turned just in time to see the pole being split by Shriek's wave. Both she and Terry knew that he would not be able to get out of its path on time. Dropping the cuffs and leaving Spellbinder free, Coba flew at her half-brother. She immediately shoved him out of the pole's path.

Terry hit the ground and rolled a bit, and was horrified when he saw the pole had landed on Coba's lower back, pinning her down. "Batgirl!" he screamed in dismay.

"Get out of here!" Coba urgently gasped as Shriek aimed his sound generator at Terry.

Batman tensed, ready to spring at the sound expert. Batgirl knew by the sound of the ceiling—which was damaged by Shriek's wave—above them that there was no chance for her sibling to survive. _It's better that he survive than me. _Just as Shriek was about to release a sound blast, Coba signaled for Terry to leave her.

To everyone's surprise, Terry was suddenly thrust out of a window directly to his right by an unseen force. "No!" he screamed as he fell. His suit's gliders opened up, but his suit was too low on energy for him to use his rocket launchers. He realized that he had no choice but to glide down to safety, leaving his half-sister behind.

Back inside the building, Coba slumped to the ground, suddenly too weak to hold herself up. _What the heck? How did that happen? _Then it hit her. _I used telekinesis to throw Terry out. That must be why I'm this much weaker. This is no time to celebrate, though. Not that I'd celebrate getting weaker, anyway. _

Spellbinder and Shriek approached the girl, grinning wickedly under their masks. Spellbinder cuffed Coba's hands together. She did not even put up a fight due to her exhaustion, much to their surprise. All she did was stare up at them, glaring with all her might while hiding her horror at what she knew was coming.

"Lights out, runt," Shriek snarled. He fired a sound blast at her head, not hard enough to kill her but enough to hurt her. She grunted, then her eyes fluttered shut as she lay her head down on the floor just as the ceiling started to give way.

Then there was nothing Coba saw but darkness.

~!~

Bruce stood in front of the computer, numb with shock. _Oh my God,_ he thought in dismay. _Coba._ He glanced down at Ace and Ed, who were both surprised at what had happened as well. Although he wanted to comfort them, he was not sure of how he could do so when he was as stressed—if not more—as they were.

_"Bruce!"_ Terry cried out in the com-link. _"They got Coba!"_

"I know," the old man said gruffly.

_"It's all my fault. I shouldn't have let my guard down!"_

"Terry," Wayne said gently, trying to calm his apprentice down.

McGinnis was clearly not paying any attention to him. _"I shouldn't have let my guard down! Shriek wouldn't have dropped that beam down and Coba wouldn't have pushed me out of the way!"_

"Terry," Bruce tried again, this time a little sharper.

_"They might have killed her! She could just be laying there under rubble..."_ The young man's voice gave a strangled sob.

"McGinnis," Bruce said authoritatively. He forced himself to take on a calm composure. "Wondering if Coba's dead or not is _not_ going to save her," he said gently. "She's still alive."

_"But how do you know?"_ Terry asked in a quiet, stressed voice.

The first Batman was silent for a moment. "I just do," he finally stated. He thought for a moment, then inquired, "Where were you when you lost track of those two earlier?"

_"Historical District,"_ Terry responded. _"In about the middle of the area I started to lose video and audio frequency, so I had to turn back."_

"Smart move," Bruce approved. "Do you remember what the buildings looked like?"

_"Yeah. Old, dusty, broken down, and deserted. Though—"_ Terry stopped suddenly.

"Though what?"

_"One of them, an old warehouse, seemed to have some lights coming from it,"_ the young hero said in realization. _"That must be where they're at. I'm going after them!" _he stated gruffly.

Bruce had a rough time keeping himself from screaming in dismay, even though he succeeded. "No, McGinnis," he said calmly. "You're too stressed out right now."

_"That's my sister out there!"_

"I know!" Wayne snapped. He let out a sigh of despair, then looked at a particular object in the cave. "I know. That's why you need to come back. _I'm_ going after them."

Terry was silent for a long moment. Bruce knew right away that the teen was surprised. _"Are you crazy?!" _he exploded at last. _"You were lucky the last time you put on that Exo-suit. If you go against Shriek and Spellbinder and whoever else is with them, you'll die!"_

"I know," Bruce repeated gravely. _I guess none of us have told him about Deathstroke, though at this point it may be better if we held off on it a little longer_, he thought. "This is something I need to do alone." He limped over to the Exo-suit, then stroked his hand across the metal. "I won't be here when you get back," he continued. "When you get here, contact Grayson and tell him what's happened."

McGinnis let out a long, frustrated sigh. _"It won't be easy,"_ he said grimly. _"Coba's his granddaughter, and the only blood family member he's got."_

Wayne finished getting the Exo-suit on, and briefly marveled at how light and easy to move it was before replying. "I know that. Good luck."

_"You too, Bruce."_

A click on the other end of the line told Bruce that Terry had shut off the radio. The old man shut off the computer's radio before pulling on a particular trench coat over the suit: the same garment he had worn the night Coba had been taken hostage by Inque. Though it had been ripped that night when he activated the suit, Coba had neatly stitched it back together while she was recovering from her left foot being broken. _She just risked her life for Terry as she did that night_, he thought gravely as he pulled on the goggles and hat he had also worn then and marched to his regular car, not having any other modes of Bat-transportation available. He got into the car and pressed a button on the console, causing the license plates on the vehicle to flip over, thus hiding them. _That must be on Terry's mind as well, and one reason why he's blaming himself. But this time, it's not him she's at odds with: it's me. And it's something that I need to get straightened out._

Ed sat on his canine friend's head sadly, both animals staring after the man. "_I hope whatever he has planned works,_" he squeaked to Ace. "_I don't want to lose him or Coba in one night, let alone at all._"

"_Same here, Ed,_" Ace whined. "_Same here._"

* * *

**Thuraya: **_**You're ending it on a suspenseful note **_**again**_**?! You heartless little—**_

***Smacks Thuraya* You're smaller than me, cub! **

**Thuraya *rubs the back of her head*: **_**Well, it's true! You haven't even posted the next chapter for **_**Kopa's Return**_** yet! How are Kopa, Afua, Bem and I going to get away from those hyenas?**_

**I'm sorry for that, but I hit a major writer's block with the next chapter for that story. I'll work on it as soon as the block is over, okay?**

***Thuraya growls, but says nothing as she stalks away.***

**Any-who, yeah, the name of this chapter is called "Endless Sacrifice" because of a song from Dream Theater that I really like, and because it really fits with what happens in this chapter. Another title I considered was "Bright Eyes," named after the song sung by Art Garfunkel and composed by Mike Batt from the film **_**Watership Down**_**, because Bruce knows Coba is still alive and goes after her as Fiver had after Hazel was shot, which is the scene in which the song is played in the background. However, that title didn't really fit with the rest of the chapter, so I stuck with the one it has now.**

**I don't know if I've pointed it out before this chapter, but Coba's voice is a bit deep for that of a girl, but not so deep it sounds like a boy. Yeah, kinda hard to describe, really, though to get an idea of what she sounds like, listen to my voice in a Shadow the Hedgehog video spoof I have on YouTube, and imagine the pitch just a little bit higher than that. The link is on my profile page if you would like to see what I mean.**

**There are also a couple pictures of Coba on my deviantArt page: one where she's a civilian, one where she's wearing her Batgirl suit. If you would like to look at them, the link to that page is on my profile.**

**Please leave a review in the box below, feel free to ask any questions you may have, and have a great day. :)**


	8. Chapter 7: Prisoner of the Mind

**Author's Notes:**

**Hi guys and girls! Sorry this chap took longer to upload than a couple previous ones did... had writer's block again. DANG WRITER'S BLOCK TO HECK! Although, it can prove to be beneficial at times... oh well. Please R&R and enjoy, and check out the author's notes at the end of the chapter for an exclusive peek at what had inspired the events in this part of the story****—let alone the whole story itself.**

* * *

Batgirl's head throbbed painfully as her eyes slowly opened. She weakly blinked a few times as her blurry vision began to clear, wincing at the stinging of her scratched face and the pain in her chest as a silent sigh escaped from her lungs, resulting in a small grunt. _Some of my ribs must've broke_, she thought ruefully. _Well, at least I'm not laying on my stomach any more._ Her eyes grew wide in surprise at this realization, but she regretted the impulse when her head ached even more from it. _But, then that means—_

Coba looked down in surprise to see she was sitting in a chair. She tried to lean forward to get a better look, but felt herself being held fast by a tight leather belt binding her to the flat back of the chair. As she attempted to reach up to loosen it, she became aware of the leather straps firmly holding her wrists to the furniture's arms. She did not doubt that her legs were bound as well, though she realized that she could neither move nor feel them. An added weight to her head told her that there was a type of cap on it. Although she could not look around very well due to her lack of freedom, she could tell that the cap had cables hooked into it. _This is not good_, she thought with dread, fighting to stay calm. _This might be an electric chair I'm tied to! _She closed her eyes and breathed in and out slowly._ Well, my mask is still on: at least my identity is safe for now._

That last thought did little to comfort the young girl. Wherever she was, she was completely helpless to whatever her captors chose to subject her to. If they had their way, which Coba was certain they would, they would soon discover her identity for themselves. Even though she silently hoped Batman would show up in time to get her out of her current situation, she knew he would have a tough time finding her with the overwhelming airwaves she sensed were hovering around the area, stretching over a few city blocks. _Then again, maybe it's better if Terry doesn't show. Then he wouldn't have to accept whatever fate I'm about to endure._

The sound of a thin figure walking in front of Coba caused her to open her eyes. "I see you're awake, runt," he sneered.

Brooklyn glared at the figure, whom she knew to be one of her captors. "Spellbinder," she growled, her voice weak yet spiteful.

"I see that even in the dim light you know who's addressing you," Shriek noted as he walked from where he had stood by Spellbinder over to Coba. He stroked her neck with the back of his suit's claws, chuckling darkly at the sight of her increased discomfort at his gesture. "Of course, bats live in the dark, don't they?"

"They're totally blind, actually," Billings pointed out.

Shriek looked at their prisoner thoughtfully, causing the girl to tense nervously. "Apparently this one isn't," he sneered. He lifted his suit's right clawed hand to Coba's face. "Why not make her more like a natural bat?"

Just as Coba turned her head and closed her eyes while Shreeve prepared to strike, another voice sounded off that made her blood run cold: "That won't be necessary."

The three costumed figures turned in surprise to see Deathstroke enter. He regarded Coba through his one eye in eerie thoughtfulness, just as Shriek had. "We don't need her blind for her to be tested on," he said slowly.

"Tested on?" Batgirl stated incredulously. In an instant she understood what her oldest captor meant. "You want to see if the machine works," she said quietly, her eyes growing wide with horror.

"That's right," Slade confirmed, brushing the back of his left hand against Coba's scratched left cheek. She struggled vainly in her tight bonds uncomfortably, more determined than ever to get free. Slade responded by gripping her throat tightly, causing her to choke. _Quit struggling, runt_, she heard from his mind. The order scared her even more, but she obeyed, understanding now that she could not get away.

"This machine is meant to kill someone from the inside of their mind," Wilson explained, releasing his deadly hold. "It disrupts the air molecules in a specific area, and sends vibrations into the brain through the ears." He got his face directly in front of his captive's. "As you noticed earlier tonight, these vibrations bring sounds or images from unpleasant memories."

"Though that happened with the parts separate, not hooked together," the small teen pointed out in a steady voice, managing to replace the terror in her eyes with a level glare. "Of course, that was just with me. It didn't work with the others."

"Can you explain why?" Spellbinder inquired, interested in seeing what Coba knew.

Coba kept staring at Deathstroke, but answered the psychologist's question. "My hearing is stronger than Batman and Nightwing's." _And I can read minds._ "I can only guess that the parts were not assembled correctly for it to work on them. But even when assembled, the machine needed more psychological and auditory power to have any affect on a normal human being, let alone produce enough power to kill a person the way Deathstroke here implies."

"Not bad, runt," Slade stated, strangely impressed by her knowledge of the device. "Any more questions?"

"Yeah," Brooklyn replied. "Why are you so bent on trying to kill my father as well?"

"Because, why not?" Deathstroke responded quietly as he leaned closer to her so she could hear instead of the other two villains as well. "After all, he always _was_ my greatest enemy."

"I thought Gra—_Nightwing_ was your greatest enemy," Coba corrected herself, remembering Shriek and Spellbinder did not know or need to know about her being related to Nightwing.

Slade's only eye flared angrily. He forcefully backhanded Coba's right cheek, causing her to let out a small gasp of pain and surprise. _You should have learned to hold your tongue while you were still alive, runt_, he thought darkly. Slade turned to Spellbinder as he stepped away from the girl. "Start the machine," he growled.

Ira nodded affirmatively before pressing a few buttons on a control panel. A sharp tremor seemed to ripple through Coba's brain, causing her to wince in pain. Once again, she heard voices from times long gone echoing through her mind, except this time they gained in volume and intensity on their own instead of from the machine's parts moving closer to her. This time, she heard some chillingly familiar voices added to the mix as well.

_"I don't see why you put up with that miscreant's problems, Natalie,"_ Powers scowled.

_"You shouldn't have gotten in our way, runt,"_ Fixx growled. _"Now you will pay the price."_

_"Can't you do anything right?"_ Bruce inquired in rage.

_"You're more trouble than you're worth, sis,"_ Terry said angrily.

_"You _haven't_ done your best, pathetic little runt!"_ Bruce spat. _"That's always been your problem!"_

_"I told you that you could not escape, didn't I?"_ Inque's voice inquired matter-of-factually.

Coba felt tears spring to her eyes as she realized in horror how correct Inque's statement was at this particular time, yet the tears were also those of guilt. _All I've ever done was let down my loved ones and provoke my enemies_, she noted sadly despite her increasing pain. _I'm sorry, Mom, Terry and Bruce. I never meant to hurt you or get you hurt. _She tightly closed her eyes as the pressure in her head increased. _This is it. This is where I—_

Batgirl's thoughts were cut off when the pain became too much for her to hold in or think past. She turned her head upward and let out an agonized scream, her hands tightly clasping the chair arms, painfully aware that her ailing was only giving her captors more satisfaction. Another tremor went through her brain, this time with so much strength that it felt as though her head was going to split into two and keep splitting. She knew she was just seconds away from death, yet she could do nothing about it except wait for it.

Small whirling sounds came from the opened doorway behind the villains just before the cables hooking the cap on Coba's head to the machine were severed. Though the power amplified by the machine stopped increasing, Coba's head continued to throb painfully. With excruciating effort, she cracked her eyelids open to see Shriek, Spellbinder and Slade turn to face a large silver and black figure standing in the doorway. She gasped in shock as she realized who it was. _Bruce?!_

"Get the machine out of here," Deathstroke ordered Shriek and Spellbinder, all the while eyeing Bruce. "Leave the runt."

The sound expert and the psychologist nodded in acknowledgement before making their way to the machine. Bruce clenched his fists angrily and tensed, prepared to charge at them. Slade pulled out a small device and pressed the button at the top of it. Coba jerked her head in terror in the direction of the control panel at the sound of a beep, suddenly realizing the device that her captor was holding was a detonator.

"Here's how this is going to work, _Batman_," Slade said darkly as his companions began to leave with their super-sonic machine. "You have less than sixty seconds to follow us or get Batgirl out before the bomb goes off. We both know very well that you only have time for one, considering your health. I suggest you choose wisely." After throwing a grenade at the first Batman, he dashed after Shreeve and Billings.

_Forty-five seconds._

Bruce swiftly swatted the grenade aside, causing it to hit the ground and explode to his right. He watched the villains' fleeing forms before his gaze shifted to Coba's bloody, horror-stricken face gazing at the ceiling as part of it began to break away from the force of the blast. The old man immediately sprinted over to the girl as the section of the roof above her head began to fall. He grabbed the chair and jumped away just a split second before the ceiling would have landed on them.

_Thirty-five seconds._

"It's alright, kid," Bruce said quietly to Coba as he removed the cap from her head. "I'll get you out of here." He forcefully ripped through the leather straps with the Exo-suit's arm blades, then undid the belt holding her chest, careful not to hurt her ribs even more. "Can you walk?"

Coba feebly shook her head after attempting to move her legs for the second time since being captured. "No," she replied, her voice barely audible as a result of the pain in her chest and head. "Can't... feel legs."

_Twenty-five seconds._

Wayne gently yet quickly lifted Coba into his arms. "Hang on," he instructed urgently.

Brooklyn grimly wrapped her arms around Bruce's neck, tight enough to keep a good hold but loose enough to not choke him or restrict his movement. She bent her head down to avoid having debris fall into her eyes as Bruce dashed towards the warehouse's exit.

_Twenty seconds._

A loud cracking sound emanated from the beaten ceiling, causing Bruce to look up in surprise and jump aside in time to avoid being hit by a large amount of the dangerous rubble. Coba let out a small, weak cry of alarm as it landed directly in front of them, blocking their path. Bruce looked left and right quickly, trying to find another route. He glared at the nearest wall, then charged. Just a few yards away from it he grunted painfully.

_The running is straining his heart_, Coba realized. _Knocking down that wall like he plans may kill him. I may have adjusted the suit for him, but it's still a major threat to his health. _Her eyes narrowed determinedly. _There's only one thing I can do now. It could kill me, but I can't let Bruce die because of me._

_Ten seconds._

Without thinking twice about it, Coba released one arm from holding on to her guardian's neck and thrust it forward. Bruce slowed down in shock as the wall fell away as if on cue. Coba's head slumped forward into her chest in exhaustion, her grip on him slackening greatly. The old warrior's mind immediately registered what had just happened, and picked up his pace once more.

_Five seconds... four... three... two... one..._

Bruce had just gotten outside of the warehouse before the bomb exploded. The force from the blast propelled him forward. He managed to twist himself so he could avoid landing on Coba. _Something I couldn't have done without the upgrades_, he mentally noted. He bent down and grabbed his trench coat—which he had removed before activating the Exo-suit—from the ground and gingerly wrapped it around his daughter's wounded body, knowing that her suit was not functioning to protect her from the cold December air. He walked at a brisk pace, though careful to stay steady to reduce the chance of hurting Coba even more.

Batgirl weakly groaned in agony after a moment. "Bruce?" she gasped, looking up at him through pained yet fearful cobalt and red eyes.

Batman glanced down reassuringly at his youngest apprentice just as he opened the passenger side door of the car. "Easy," he said gently. "We're almost to the car, then we'll be out of here. Just relax."

"I'll... try," Coba responded haltingly. Tears rolled down from her eyes, stinging the numerous cuts on her cheeks. Her eyelids began to droop while Bruce set her down in the seat and belted her in. "I-I'm sorry... Father," her voice choked, getting quieter. Before Bruce could say anything to her, Coba fainted from her fatigue.

Another sense of urgency surged through Bruce's mind. _I have to get her home_, he thought. _She can't die now: she deserves another chance._ His eyes narrowed as he got into the driver's seat of the car, belted himself in, and turned the car on._ And this time, I won't deprive her of that chance. I don't know if she called me "Father" out of confusion or sincerity, but I must be the father she needs and deserves, now. I can't let her go again._ He shifted the vehicle out of park, then sped off down the roads leading to the Batcave.

_Hang on, Coba. Hang on._

* * *

**And now you know for certain what that machine is capable of. Kinda creepy, huh?**

**Thuraya: I'll say! How the Kings did you come up with something like that?**

**Well, my idea for the machine came from a nightmare I had in late December, the same nightmare that had inspired me to write this story. In it, I was Batgirl (and yes, I mean Coba's Batgirl), helping Batman fight against villains. At some point I was knocked unconscious, and when I woke up I was in a dark and dirty room, more like a dusty garage, strapped to a chair. At first I thought it was an electric chair, but when my captor—in this case Spellbinder—turned it on, he said "This should feel like the headache you get when you realize you forgot to do a homework assignment." I felt a buzz go through my brain—yes, in my sleep I can feel things like that—and it felt as though my mind was going to split. And yes, that is how I feel when I realize I forgot to do a homework assignment, although not exactly as violently as it was in the dream. Spellbinder turned the machine off, but before he could turn it back on my radio alarm went off, waking me. Kinda like the Metallica song "Ride the Lightning," really: 'Wakened by horrid scream (in this case a song from Shinedown (although his scream isn't really horrid, in my opinion)), freed from this frightening dream.'**

**Thuraya: Whoa... glad you don't have me get dreams like that!**

**And you should be glad. They're not very fun, even when they do give story ideas. I had a similar thing happen that inspired me to write my novel, though I haven't released it yet (nor am I done typing it or excited to), but that's another story. XD**

**Any-who, this was my first time including a countdown sequence. How did I do with that? We're also getting close to the conclusion of Bruce and Coba's conflict, not to mention an eerie secret behind Deathstroke's plot...**

**Thuraya: Get on with it!**

**Fine! *Clears throat and calms down* Please leave a review in the box below (I love those things: they make me happy!) and have a great rest of your day. :D**


	9. Chapter 8: 'I Know It Was You I Hurt'

**Author's Notes:**

**Hello again! This chapter was a pain to write, but I finally got it done. YAY! I got the name of this chapter from a line of the song "Out In The Cold" by Judas Priest and decided to use it because, well, it fits so well with what goes on and it just felt right. And prepare yourselves for a shocking secret I've kept from everyone until this chap. Without any further notations till the end, please read, review, and enjoy...**

* * *

Bruce pulled into the driveway just outside of the manor less than ten minutes after getting Coba out of the warehouse. Terry had been standing outside of the house, having had received a phone call from Bruce before his arrival, and aided Bruce in taking Coba down to the cave. Even before they placed the small teen on the operating table, removed the top part of her suit—with both men grateful that there were still bandages tightly covering her entire chest—and attaching a heart monitor to her right arm, Bruce knew she was near death.

Doing a quick X-ray, they found that the two ribs that were cracked the most earlier were now broken, along with two of the other four already cracked ones. Four others were cracked as well. Bruce swiftly injected fast healing agents into Coba's ribs. As he did this, Terry removed his half-sister's bloodstained black mask and placed an oxygen mask over her mouth. Wayne used the X-ray machine and located a spot in Coba's spine that had been broken. He did not doubt for an instant that this was what had caused her to not feel her legs. Once Terry was done placing the oxygen mask on her, Bruce injected another healing serum into her back after popping it back into place. Both Batmen were horror-stricken when none of their actions caused the girl's pulse to change.

"She doesn't know we're here," Terry murmured, fighting back tears of grief.

Wayne placed a hand on McGinnis' shoulder in an effort to comfort him, but he could not think of anything to say in response. _He's right_, he thought sadly. _It could mean that she's right at death's door._

"This is all my fault," Terry said guiltily. "If I hadn't let my guard down, she wouldn't have gotten hurt like this."

"No," Bruce cut him off. "None of this is your fault. You're not the one who made her feel like she was nothing, I am. She went out to help you on her own accord, but she may have fought better if she felt that she had my support."

Terry looked at Bruce quizzically. "Why would she feel that she didn't have your support?"

"We had an argument before she left," the old man explained sadly. "I... said some things I regret now." He looked down at the ground. "I had called her a pathetic runt."

The young Dark Knight stared at his teacher in disbelief. "You did _what_?" he said with a sharp edge in his voice. "After everything she's done for all of us, even risking her life and sanity to keep us all alive, you call her _that_?"

"Among other things. It's not something I'm proud of, or ever will be." Bruce looked at Coba's still form through watery eyes. "Believe me: if I could take back all the horrible things I said to her, I would."

Terry let Bruce's words set in for a moment and considered how emotional the old man was getting, then sighed, relaxing his tensed muscles. "I believe your words, but I'm having a hard time believing you'd do that to her. To me? Yes. To her? No."

"I know. I had a hard time believing it when you the same to her as well."

"The whole thing with Inque," Terry acknowledged grimly. "I've also been thinking over that tonight. And I've been thinking..."

Bruce looked at his successor with an unreadable expression. "Oh you _do_ think, do you?" he asked in amusement.

The young man could not help but grin a bit at his teacher's comment. "Yeah," he said with a small chuckle. "Surprised?"

"Only a little," Bruce smirked. He became grave once more. "What were you thinking about?"

McGinnis became serious as well, and looked Wayne in the eyes sadly. "Every time one of us makes a mistake, it's Coba who pays the price," he answered. "When I disowned her as my sister, she was nearly killed by Inque; when I refused to listen to her about Superman going rogue, she was almost fatally wounded. And... now this. You yelled at her, I let my guard down with Shriek, and now she's... fading away," he finished, choking back a sob.

The old warrior gently squeezed Terry's shoulder in an effort to comfort him. He noticed something changing right before his eyes. "She's not fading away," he murmured. "Look."

Terry followed Bruce's gaze, and what he saw he almost could not believe. The heart monitor beeped a few paces faster than it had before, and Coba's chest and stomach rose a little further with every breath she took. She let out a small groan of pain against the oxygen mask. Terry wanted so badly to run over and start talking to her, but knew she was still in no condition to do so. _And I don't know if she'll hear me._

"She might hear us," Bruce said quietly, somehow knowing what his youngest son was thinking, "but we'd better not stress her into trying to respond. Her lung was badly punctured and has a while yet to fully heal." He paused for a moment. "Have you gotten a hold of Grayson?"

"Yeah," Terry said with a nod. "He came here just about ten minutes before you arrived, but left to patrol Gotham while I waited here."

"I see. Why don't you go out now?"

"I can't leave Coba," the young man said stubbornly. "Last time I did that she was taken by Shriek and Spellbinder."

"They won't take her now," Bruce promised. "As far as they're concerned, she and I died when Deathstroke blew up the warehouse."

The new Batman's eyes grew wide with shock. "Deathstroke?! Wasn't he Nightwing's greatest enemy?"

"Yes," Bruce answered, "and has been hunting Coba down since she was an infant. We'll have to explain that later," he stated, noticing Terry had opened his mouth to inquire further. "I suggest you keep on your toes. Go find Dick, and tell him to come here as soon as possible."

"Alright," Terry said reluctantly. "Should I tell Selina as well?"

"Good idea." Wayne noticed exactly how hesitant Terry was to leave. "I'll let you know if anything changes."

Terry nodded, then lightly brushed a his right hand against Coba's. "Get better, sis," he murmured. "I'll be back soon." He noticed his half-sister's fingers twitching slightly at this gesture, and knew she had heard him. Blinking back a few tears of sympathy and grief, he suited up and left the cave.

Bruce waited a few minutes until he knew for sure Terry had left, knowing that the task he was about to set about doing may have been made more difficult with distractions. He removed the oxygen mask from Coba's mouth, pulled out a wash cloth and a small bowl of warm water, and gently washed the blood off of her face with the cloth after dipping it into the water. The unconscious girl winced slightly as the cloth touched a few of the more tender, infected cuts. "Sorry, kid," Bruce quietly apologized. He took tweezers to each cut that had caused Coba to react that way and pulled out small shards of glass from them, causing her to moan a little and her face to contort a bit at the pain. "I know it hurts."

He washed her face once more until all of the blood that had caked it was gone. After drying it with a dry cloth, he rubbed antibacterial ointment on her scratches and covered them with adhesive bandages. The ointment touching the tender wounds caused Coba to hiss in pain, then groan at the pressure in her ribs. Bruce pulled out a lightweight yet warm blanket and placed it on her, covering her shoulders and down past her feet, after noticing the skin on her arms and bare stomach were tinged blue from exposure to the cold cave air. Coba shuddered a little upon feeling the blanket, then winced as her reflexive action caused more pain in her ribs. Her father replaced the oxygen mask and gently placed a hand on her forehead. His face creased with more worry as he realized she had a fever. After dipping a clean cloth in the warm water, he waited for the air to cool it before placing it on her forehead. He sat down at the foot of the table, watching over her.

~!~

Spellbinder and Shriek followed Deathstroke through the darkest back alleys of Gotham, both of them still carrying the weapon between each other. It had been close to an hour since they had fled from the warehouse, and not once had they stopped running. Though his two companions were more fit for running this long, Spellbinder felt as though his legs were going to fly off at any given moment. "How much farther?" he inquired Deathstroke.

"Only a few more blocks," came Slade's unconcerned response.

_I doubt I'll last that long_, the psychologist thought, knowing better than to say the words aloud.

To Ira's surprise, he made it those three blocks and up a flight of stairs before Deathstroke signaled for them to stop. Billings and Shreeve set the machine down, then sat down in chairs directly next to them in exhaustion. _These chairs have been set up conveniently_, Spellbinder thought. His blood froze with dread. _Too convenient._

Shriek noticed this as well, but before he could look at Slade metal clamps on the chairs closed on him and Spellbinder, pinning them to their respective chairs. He glared angrily at the mercenary. "What's the meaning of this, Deathstroke?"

Deathstroke pulled out a variety of blades as he approached his partners-turned-captives. He removed his mask, causing them to stare in horror and disgust. "You have served your purpose," he said sinisterly. "I have no further use for either of you... _alive_."

~!~

Coba woke up with a startled gasp, her eyes opening in shock. Her heart thudded rapidly in her pained chest as her frantic mind took in all of what she had seen. She heard her heart monitor beep quickly, and forced herself to calm down to slow it. A large hand was gently placed on her shoulder. "Easy, Coba," the owner of the hand said soothingly. "Easy. You're safe now."

Brooklyn's cobalt eyes glanced at the person next to her. "B-ruce?" she feebly gasped.

"Take it easy, kid," Bruce said soothingly. "You took quite a beating."

The girl nodded slowly in acknowledgment. She weakly closed her eyes and let out a small sigh, then opened them again, tears brimming at the bottom of them. "It... hurts."

"I know, Coba," Bruce said sympathetically. "I know. Can you feel your legs?"

"Yeah. They feel like... pins and needles right now." Coba's eyes grew wide with terror. "The machine they used on me... they'll use it on the city." Coba coughed for more breath, the oxygen mask not making it any easier to breathe.

"Shh," Bruce said quietly, removing the mask and gingerly sitting her up to help her breathe better. "Don't strain yourself."

Batgirl ignored him. "It amplifies... negative thoughts," she gasped, "until it gets... too loud for the... mind to handle." She paused, catching her breath, then continued. "I felt it... try to split my brain." Tears began to fall as she recalled the horrific experience with startling clarity. "And I realized that... I failed those I love by living."

"No," Bruce tried to intervene.

Coba looked up at Bruce through sorrowful eyes. "Mom was targeted by Powers for discovering a secret I had uncovered... and was killed by Fixx when she tried to save me from him... All I've ever done to you, Terry, Grandmother and Grandfather... was let you down." The tears fell from her eyes like rain. "I'm so... so sorry," she choked.

Wayne gently held Coba close to him, careful not to get the lines hooked to the heart monitor tangled around his arms, allowing her to bury her face into his chest as she wept. "Don't be, kid," he said calmly once she had quietened down a bit, wiping the blood from her mouth. "What happened to your mother is not your fault, no matter how much more of it you remember. The only people to blame for it are Powers and Fixx. I know she doesn't blame you for what happened: you wouldn't be visited by her spirit if she did.

"As for disappointing us, you haven't. At some point we thought you did, but we later realized it was us letting you down." Bruce sighed a little. "I almost got you killed by being consumed by my reluctance of working with people with powers. I realize now how wrong I was, and I deeply apologize." His eyes watered up. "You made me proud to call you my daughter. I believe you always have, even the day I adopted you."

The girl looked up at him through her own teary eyes and managed a feeble smile. "And I'm proud to call you my father," she murmured.

A single tear rolled down Bruce's cheek at Coba's statement. Noticing this, Coba reached up and brushed it away, then hugged him warmly. Bruce hugged her back, careful to mind her still fractured bones. The two of them sat like that for about a minute, then the old man helped the teen to lay back down. "Thank you, for coming after me," Coba gasped.

Bruce smiled benignly at his daughter and gently ruffled her hair. "Always."

"Well, _that's_ not something you see every day."

The two of them looked in surprise to see Selina, Dick, Herbst, and Dana standing there, all of them shocked. Bruce and Coba correctly guessed that Terry had told Dana and Herbst about Coba's current state of health as well as the girl's grandparents, and wasted no time in coming to see her. Selina, who had made the previous statement, spoke again in a surprised yet amused tone. "I didn't think I'd ever catch you crying, Bruce."

Wayne smirked. "Well, surprise!"

The others laughed a bit uncomfortably, though Coba could not help but smile in good humor. "Given the circumstances, I don't blame him," she stated.

Grayson walked over to his small granddaughter. "How do you feel?"

Coba frowned. "Physically: horrible. Emotionally: half relieved and half horrified."

"What makes you feel that way?"

"Well, I'm relieved Bruce and I managed to get somethings sorted out," Coba said a bit awkwardly. "I'm scared because—" her body began to shake as her eyes widened in terror— "because before I woke up, I had a vision... of Deathstroke."

"Calm down, kid," Dick said reassuringly, grasping her right hand. "He won't hurt you again: I won't let him."

"It wasn't him who hurt me, Grandfather," Brooklyn said, her voice tight.

Bruce looked at her, perplexed. "I saw him detonate that bomb to kill us both. It was him."

"You didn't see his face behind his mask, though," Coba pointed out. "I didn't either until my vision. I may not have seen Slade's real face in person, but this definitely was not him. And before you came for me, he said you were his greatest enemy."

_"Wayne! Do you copy?"_ Terry's voice sounded from the intercom before Bruce could respond.

"What is it?" Bruce spoke into a microphone by the operating table.

_"I just found Shriek and Spellbinder,"_ Terry answered somewhat tensely. _"They're in bad shape. There's no sign of Deathstroke."_

"Keep looking," Grayson instructed. "He's bound to be there somewhere."

_"Hold on, Shriek's waking up."_

The people in the cave listened to the pained groans of the sound genius. _"Scalpels..." _he gasped, _"retractors... forceps... scissors... bandages..."_

_Bandages? _Bruce and Coba each wondered.

_"Where's Deathstroke?" _Batman gruffly demanded.

_"Deathstroke... dead..."_ came the shaky response. _"For... two weeks..."_ A faint groan told the listeners in the cave that Shriek was about to pass out once more, but before he did, they heard him gasp out:

_"Killed by... Hush..."_

Bruce, Dick, Selina and Coba each stared at the microphone in shock at what they had just heard, too surprised to notice the confused faces of Dana and Herbst, both of whom had not heard of either of the mentioned criminals from the first Batman's time. "Oh my God," Bruce breathed.

* * *

***Hides behind Captain America's shield as objects are thrown by angry readers* Bet you didn't see that one coming...**

_**You just killed Deathstroke!**_

**Actually, I killed him before I even began writing the story. It was originally just going to be Shriek and Spellbinder (with the possibility of Willie Watt), but when I told TRON0602 about the nightmare I had that was mentioned in the previous chapter, he requested that I added in Hush. I wasn't sure of how to add him in, but I agreed that it would be cool, so I considered ideas until I settled on having him be Shriek at least part of the time. This changed again when I added Deathstroke to the mix, and decided that it would be him who was impersonated. I did a lot of research on both Deathstroke and Hush to figure out how to pull this off, and it was hard to put in hints that wouldn't completely give this twist away. I know some people may hate this, but some might even like it. I don't know...**_** I **_**thought it was kinda cool, though I do like Deathstroke...**

_**But what happened to Deathstroke?**_

**That will be revealed in the next chapter. So, until then, have a great day and I will see you next time (if I didn't make you turn away, that is)! :D**


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